Sunderland youth will not be accepted as an 'excuse' for anything, says Tony Mowbray

Tony Mowbray says he will not allow youth to become an ‘excuse’ for Sunderland as they plot a path back to the Premier League.

Sunderland have the youngest squad in the championship, and the starting 11 for the FA Cup defeat to Fulham on Wednesday was just 22.3.

Teenagers Chris Rigg and Jewison Bennette were also used from the bench in what was ultimately a positive performance from Sunderland.

However, while that youth comes with lots of benefits, Mowbray insists the expectations and demands on them will be the same as anyone else who represents Sunderland.

“I’m conscious of talking about how young the team is,” Mowbray told safc.com after the defeat to Fulham.

“Bottom line, they’re professional footballers. It’s a brilliant education for the Dan Neils and Ajis and Cirkins and all these young players that we’ve got. They have to come to the party and hopefully they play at a really high level for the rest of their career.

“We’re trying to get to the Premier League in the next year or two and that’s where they need to want to play. So nights like tonight are the best test they can have.

“You have to be good enough to play for Sunderland and I think the team is competing in the Championship.

“I want to get away from the narrative of how young we are. I’ve said that enough, and I don’t want to give them excuses.

“I want them to be able to play at the level and whether they’re 16,17,18,19,20 or 30, you have to play at the level and get into this team and compete. And hopefully beat Championship teams that we expect to beat."

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