Tony Mowbray says Sunderland's youngsters are improving all the time as they gain more experience at Championship level. The Black Cats have combined the youth and potential of players such as Dan Neil, Anthony Patterson, Jack Clarke, Amad, and Aji Alese, along with the nous of more seasoned pros like Corry Evans, Danny Batth, Bailey Wright, and Alex Pritchard, to good effect in the first half of the campaign.
And while there have been times when Sunderland have given up leads late in games when a more experienced side might have seen things through, Mowbray insists he has no real complaints. Instead, he says the young players are learning important lessons which will turn them into better footballers and benefit the club in the long run.
"Game management is massive in football - not panicking when the other team has a lot of the ball," said Mowbray. "As long as you are filling the right positions and you are denying them space in critical areas, I think that's fine.
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"In a game, when do you switch from passive to aggressive? Or vice-versa? You have to take a natural break in the game because it is really hard to play at full throttle for 90 minutes, there are going to be spells in the game where the opposition has some good play and some passes and you have to make sure you don't concede in those moments.
"Generally, that comes from inside the team. We've got Danny Batth, Corry Evans, Alex Pritchard - we do have a smattering of experienced players.
"I don't want to say 'I'd love to have another three 28-year-olds playing'. The team is developing, and it's a team we have to improve and make them understand football better - as well as making sure their individual performance levels stay high.
"That's a challenge every game. We all feel the hurt when there's a defeat, that's part of football, but we have to try and use it as a learning tool rather than bash the team and tell them how terrible they are."
Academy graduate Neil is a prime example of a player who is continuing to develop, having enjoyed a fine breakthrough season last year as he established himself as an automatic choice in midfield during Sunderland's promotion campaign. This season the 21-year-old is making the step up to Championship level where he finds himself competing against a better standard of player and he has generally coped well with the transition, although Mowbray says there are still aspects of his game that need work.
He said: "Somewhere down the line, the experience of these games has got to start helping whether it's in the next three games, the next five games, or the next hundred games, these lads have got to grow and develop. Somewhere down the line, Dan Neil will have played 200 games for the club and he will be a much better footballer.
"He's got certain aspects of his game now that are very good, but there are other aspects he has to develop and that's the same with most of the younger element of the team."
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