Luke O’Nien hails ‘phenomenal’ Sunderland team-mate after recent development
Sunderland defender Luke O’Nien has praised Tommy Watson after the 18-year-old made his first start under Regis Le Bris.
The Frenchman opted to rotate his side for their trip to Preston on Wednesday, 6 November in a decision that didn’t pay off.
Watson was one of three changes in the Sunderland lineup with O’Nien hailing the winger in a post-match interview with Sky Sports.
He said: “Tommy Watson got his first start today, which is good for him because he’s been phenomenal in training. I thought he did well.”
Tommy Watson needs to feature on the left for Sunderland
While it was excellent to see the talented youngster make his first senior start, it was slightly disappointing to see him feature on the right wing.
Watson had had an excellent season at Under-21 level, with five goals and four assists in five appearances, demonstrating his ability to cut in from the left-hand side and cause a threat. Much of that threat is nullified when playing on the right.
Nonetheless, despite not doing anything significant in the game, Watson didn’t look out of place and had more involvement than both Aaron Connolly and Wilson Isidor.
The former also made his full debut, albeit disappointing in the 62 minutes he played.
Watson has a big future at Sunderland and will only grow with more game time but that has to come in his natural position for the Black Cats to reap the rewards.
There is a reason why Brighton were sniffing around in the summer (Craig Hope) and Sunderland need to utilise that potential to its full capacity.
In other Sunderland news, wonderkid Chris Rigg has emerged as a potential £20m January transfer target for Crystal Palace.
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