Sunderland gave both Niall Huggins and Ellis Taylor 90 minutes of action in a hotly contested Tyne-Wear derby in Premier League 2, Division 2. Both came through the match at St. James' Park unscathed, with the former of the duo continuing his injury rehab.
It's the first 90 minutes the Welsh youth international has played in over a year and Graeme Murty insists he's getting back to his best with every passing week. "If you'd have seen him at Stoke last week you would have thought there was no way there was 90 minutes in him," Murty said. "He did a run after two minutes and blew up basically and he spent the next 45 minutes trying to recover.
"His recovery is getting better which is a good sign, his technicality is coming back and I think he needs a little trust in his body. To trust his body is going to do what he asks it to. That will come with time and I think you're starting to see it."
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Murty was also able to call upon youngster Taylor, despite him currently being on loan with Hartlepool United. Big things were expected from the 19-year-old who burst onto the scene last season.
The youngster signed his first professional deal at just weeks after turning 18 and signed a three-year deal with the Black Cats. He's been on the fringes of the first team for a while now and went to Hartlepool United in search of more first-team football.
However, Taylor has found life tough at the Vic since joining earlier this year. His youth loan meant he was able to play for the Under-21s in the Tyne-Wear derby last night. When asked about being able to call upon Taylor despite struggling for minutes on loan, Murty said: "That's an interesting perspective, I kind of look at it a different way. There are times in a footballer's life when they're not going to play and they're not going to be selected.
"What are you going to do about it? They have to force their way into the managers' thinking and actually it's not a managers job to select you, it's your job to go and prove to him that he can trust you to go and do a job.
"Ellis is learning that right now and it's a hard lesson to learn, but lessons are brilliant because it sets you up for success later on. For him to go and get 90 minutes there where he found it difficult, the pace was intense, he's playing against good technical players in the middle of the pitch, will only benefit him in the long run.
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