Sunderland winger Duncan Watmore made his return to the Under-23 side on Monday night.
Sunderland winger Duncan Watmore made his long-awaited return to action on Monday evening in the Teesside Derby between Sunderland and Middlesbrough’s Under-23 sides.
The Black Cats youngsters were on the end of a 3-1 beating by their fellow North East side, but a huge positive was that Watmore played just under 60 minutes after recovering from his second cruciate ligament injury.
And in an interview with the Sunderland Echo, under-23 coach Elliot Dickman has praised the 24-year-old for remaining ‘professional’ through his long road to recovery.
“When you’ve had the injury he’s had it’s always going to be a test and you’re not going to have that until you play a competitive game,” Dickman said.
“It’s been a long process and fair play to Duncan he’s been very professional with it he’s been smashing.
“To be fair to him he’s good for the team, good for the lads and very professional and it’s great for the young lads to see how he prepares and what he does.”
Watmore missed a penalty in the match against Middlesbrough and his need for game time over the coming weeks is evident for first-team manager Jack Ross to see.
And when the former Altrincham man does make his return to the side, he’ll no doubt be a great asset to the Wearside team going forward – with his ability to run at defenders at blistering pace bringing something different to the Sunderland side.
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