Younger’s fine Black Cats debut could yet prove crucial for Phil
unfortunate to see a crunching header early in the contest bounce clear from the underside of the bar.
Younger was initially brought to the club after his release from Burnley in the summer, part of the policy to strengthen an Under-23s side thatstruggledbadlyintheprevious campaign.
The ramifications of that were widespread, and it was an area in urgent of need of investment.
Younger, though, was quickly demonstrating that he could have something to offer at senior level.
When Morgan Feeney, himself enjoying a bright start to life on Wearside, suffered a hamstringinjury,itwasYounger who was brought in to train with the first-team group.
He relished the challenge, and it would become clear a few weeks later just what an impact he had made.
Withdefensiveinjuriespiling up, it was Younger who was named on the bench for the trip to Swindon Town.
Such was Younger's progress,hehadleapfroggedBrandonTaylorinthepeckingorder (Taylor, it should be said, produced what was comfortably his best performance of the group stage on Tuesday night).
Thatencouragingfirst-half showing,then,wasonemonths in the making.
The hamstring injury that followed is a frustrating setback, but there is every reason tothinkthatYoungercouldstill have a part to play for Parkinson before the season is out.
The left side of the back three remains something of a problem position.
Arbenit Xhemajli will not play again this season, and there will be times when Tom Flanagan is away on international duty with Northern Ireland. An injury to Flanagan would again leave a clear gap in the side.
LukeO'Nienhasperformed therolesuperblyonoccasions, but struggled against Portsmouth and it is clear that the side loses an edge when he is moved away from the right wing-back role.
In almost every position on the pitch (particularly with Feeney likely to return before the new year), Parkinson has two established options.
Xhemajli's injury blow means that side of defence is the one area where he could be left light over the course of the campaign.
"We’ve just got to hope it’s not too bad," Parkinson said.
“He’s made his mark, but he’s made his mark in training with the lads as well. "He’s done really well." With Flanagan and Conor McLaughlin preparing for a EURO 2020 play-off, Younger has likely missed out on the chance of being part of the squad this Saturday.
From everything we have seen of him so far, though, you expect he will fight his way backinbeforetheseasonisout.