Jack Clarke pays tribute to 'top drawer' Sunderland teenage midfield duo

Sunderland needed a little help from the bench against Plymouth, and their two teenage midfield stars certainly made their mark.

Jack Clarke paid tribute to the impact of Sunderland teenage stars Jobe Bellingham and Chris Rigg for their role in the win over Plymouth.

Bellingham, 18, and Rigg, 16, came on to freshen up the midfield as Sunderland turned a 1-0 half-time deficit into a 3-1 win at the Stadium of Light.

Jobe scored the third with an outstanding individual effort, but Clarke was just as impressed by Rigg.

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“I think we could see there were good performances from the boys who started and there were big performances from the guys who came on and gave us the fresh legs when we needed them,” Clarke told safc.com.

“Especially Jobe and Riggy in the midfield. They were top drawer when they came on.”

Clarke was also on the scoresheet, bagging his 14th Championship goal of the season, and in some style as well.

It takes him to 18 goal contributions this season in total. He, though, says he doesn’t mind who gets the goals as long as Sunderland keep winning.

“I don’t like to think about the numbers too much. For me and the team it’s just about winning games, not about who’s scoring and who’s doing what.

“We’re happy to get the three points today and hopefully it can kickstart us off into this week.

“Hopefully we can continue the form we’re on at the minute and get a good run going, like we did last year going into the play-offs. Things are in the right place so hopefully things are starting to tick in our favour.

“It’s a short turnaround in between games but we’ll do what we can to be in the best possible shape going into Wednesday night [against Huddersfield]. Hopefully we can pick up another three points there.”

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