Trai Hume hailed as 'fantastic example' of the kind of players Sunderland want

Tony Mowbray says he recognised how talented Trai Hume was from his first training session at the club, even if it took the Northern Irishman a while to force his way into the side.

Hume joined Sunderland from Linfield in January 2022, although it took him almost a year to become a regular at the club.

Much of that was down to the form oof Lynden Gooch at right-back, but when the American got injured earlier this season Hume was ready to step in and has not looked back since.

Hume was an unknown to such an extent that even Mowbray himself was not aware of him before he was appointed as Alex Neil’s successor in August, but he’s certainly been impressed since.

“I’ll be honest – I didn’t really know Trai as a player”, Mowbray admitted ahead of the clash with Birmingham City.

“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.

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“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 has been a revelation at right-back in the second half of this season, with his raw aggression and quality on the ball endearing himself to a fans on Wearside.

Those traits served him well when he was asked to play in an unfamiliar centre-back role at Cardiff last week, but Mowbray was not remotely surprised that he was able to step up to the challenge.

“I thought he did exceptionally well at the weekend in the position we asked him to play,” he added.

“We talk about going on a journey, with a growth mindset, and Trai is a fantastic example of that.”

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