Trai Hume has capped off an outstanding year at Sunderland by being named in the Championship Team of the Season.
The versatile defender excelled in 2022/23, playing 28 league games for the Black Cats to help them reach the promotion play-offs.
Hume has played every Championship game for Sunderland since Boxing Day, establishing himself as the club's first-choice right-back.
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WhoScored.com published their Team of the Season based on average ratings, with the final XI shared on Sky Sports.
Trai returned a rating of 6.92, with WhoScored.com's Ben Aleer saying: "The first of two Sunderland players in the side, Hume was a solid performer for the Black Cats as they secured a play-off finish on the final day of the season.
"A return of 2.7 tackles per 90 ranked among the top 20 players in England's second tier."
It's fair to say Hume is earning a solid reputation across the water, but his manager Tony Mowbray recently admitted he didn't know who the former Linfield defender was when he arrived at the Stadium of Light.
Mowbray said in an interview: “I’ll be honest – I didn’t really know Trai as a player. He was a squad player, he wasn’t playing, and he was the one that always seemed to be left out on a matchday.
“But the bottom line is that, right from day one, he showed in training how talented he is. He showed straight away how good he is, and I remember him knocking on my door and asking when he was going to get an opportunity.”
Hume joined Sunderland from Linfield in January last year but barely featured for former Sunderland boss Alex Neill in the second half of the 2021/22 season.
He was a fans' favourite at Windsor Park, and also enjoyed a successful loan spell with hometown club Ballymena United.
The 21-year-old has also been capped at underage level for Northern Ireland and featured in a number of senior squads.
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