Senior players happy to give Honeyman a helping hand

GEORGE Honeyman admits that Sunderland’s senior players are helping him a lot in his breakthrough campaign at the club.

The academy graduate has played in every game for the Black Cats this season, and netted his first senior goal for the club in the Carabao Cup first-round victory against Bury.

His energetic displays have impressed manager Simon Grayson, who has shown no reluctance in giving the youngster the opportunity to cement his place.

And the 23-year-old says he’s been able to draw on senior players in the squad for advice, but says years in the club’s academy have also set him up perfectly to grasp this chance too.

“Quite a few (senior players) have taken me under their wing,” Honeyman (right) told the club website. “I’ve been lucky that we’ve had a good group of professionals at Sunderland who I’ve learnt from. The likes of John O’Shea, Lee Cattermole, Billy (Jones), people like that among others. “There have been some good guys and there still are, I’ve been lucky in that sense that there have been some good people who show me the ropes, so to speak! “I feel I can go to any of them whenever I want for advice which I have done a lot. Whether that’s on or off-the-field stuff, it’s nice to have that support behind you.” On his beginning in the academy, where he started when he was 10, he continued: “Being a good person off the pitch comes from our academy. It’s instilled in us all that they make us good people, as well as good footballers.

“There can be a lot of directions and people fall off it sometimes, but you’ve got to be able to learn from what you do wrong.

“At the end of the day, you’re trying to be a professional athlete so it’s important to give yourself the best possible chance to make it.”

JAMES HUNTER