Outing With The Kids Could Benefit 'Fab Four'

Last updated : 12 March 2013 By Tott Dixon - Seaham

Kevin Ball has no doubts, he says Sunderland’s quartet of first-teamers will reap the benefits from an outing for the Under-21s.

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Phil Bardsley, Kader Mangane, David Vaughan and Keiren Westwood all completed the full 90 minutes in the 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough.

Kevin Ball: “When you’re not playing in the first-team you can do all the training you want – but it’s a totally different concept playing a game.

“Whether that’s at Under-21 level or wherever, the pitch dimensions makes everything totally different.

“It does them the world of good, and when the opportunity arises, I encourage the manager to play them.

“I also think it’s good for the younger players, because they enjoy playing alongside them.”

“Kader got a whack on the chops, but it’ll take a big whack to stop him!

“I thought in the first half we had a few opportunities where we should have been at least looking to hit the target.

“I wasn’t particularly happy at half-time – I felt we could do better. We started the second half a lot better, but then lost our way a bit.”

SUNDERLAND: Westwood, Bardsley, Ferguson, Vaughan, Harrison, Mangane, Reed, Laidler, Noble, Mandron, Lynch (Mitchell, 81).