Reece eager to shine for boss
Reece James is itching to make his first-team debut and could be in the squad to face Sheffield Wednesday tonight.
The 24-year-old leftback signed for the Black Cats after being released by Wigan at the end of last season, but has been hampered by a groin injury since his arrival.
Determin e d to prove his fitness, James played 45 minutes for the Under-23s on Monday night and now wants to fight for a place in Jack Ross’ senior side.
“It is the first time I’ve been out there in a while,” he told the SAFC website.
“I originally picked up the injury while I was out in Portugal. I wanted to dig through and hope it settled down. That wasn’t the case, though, I had a tear in my groin, so I probably did the wrong thing by playing in the game against Darlington.
“I wanted to play but unfortunately these things happen.”
Jack Ross revealed James would be ‘more involved’ in the coming weeks and now needs game time.
James was substituted at half-time as the Under-23s lost 2-1 to Stoke at Eppleton CW but was simply happy to be back.
“I have had to work hard behind the scenes with the physio and the medical staff and hopefully I can come back strong,” he said.
“That was why I wanted to play on Monday. I wanted some minutes and to get used to match awareness. You forget about certain things when you are out for a while like positional awareness and defensive play. It was good to get my brain going again,” he added.
“I feel like I’ve taken a step forward now. Hopefully I can show the manager what I can do in these next games if I can get a chance.”
The side was 1-0 up when James left the field at the interval, and the full-back looked relatively comf ortable during his 45-minute cameo.
Sunderland were forced to do a lot of defending but James did manage to make a couple of forays forward. He looked solid defensively but will need to expect more of a challenge if he’s thrown into a full-blooded League One fixture.
Adam Matthews started at left-back in Sunderland’s League One opener against Charlton, before moving to centre-back following Donald Love’s injury.
Bryan Oviedo then occupied the vacant role against Luton, amid reports that the Costa Rica international could leave the club.
Meanwhile, Sunderland have announced supporters wishing to attend next Monday’s under-23s game against Newcastle at St James’s Park (7pm) must purchase a ticket in advance from the Stadium of Light ticket office. There will be no tickets available from St James’s Park and entry on the night will not be permitted without a valid ticket.
Tickets are available from the Stadium of Light ticket office until 4pm on Monday.