Mike Dodds explains why he promoted Sunderland youngster to first-team squad - and what's next

Sunderland youngster Tommy Watson could be in line for his first senior appearance since his debut last spring when Sheffield Wednesday visit the Stadium of Light this weekend.

Watson was a late substitute when the Black Cats drew 1-1 with Huddersfield last April, but saw his progress after signing his first professional contract at the club hampered by injury. Many supporters have been keen to see the 18-year-old handed more opportunities as the campaign draws to a disappointing close, but interim head coach Mike Dodds has explained that he wanted a greater level of consistency from the winger in his U21 performances.

Watson caught Dodds’ eye with an excellent display against Liverpool in the U21s’ 2-1 win last Monday, leading to him being selected in the squad for the 1-0 defeat to Watford. Watson then featured in a 4-0 win for the U21s against Blackburn Rovers the following day, and will now filter into first-team training for the rest of this week.

Should he continue to impress then he is likely to retain his place in the squad and could get some minutes in the final game of the campaign.

“I felt that when I watched Tommy Watson for the U21s earlier in the week that week that he deserved an opportunity to be in and around the squad,” Dodds said.

“He's been training with us lately and will do so again next week, so we'll see how he does then.

"Tommy is making progress, he was one of the strong performances against Liverpool in that U21s game. I'd spoken to him about, I thought he'd performed really well for the U18s and so logically, the next step for him was to perform consistently well in the U21s. He performed well on Monday - that level of consistency has not always been there as much as we would like. He's a good player, a talented boy and one that we've just got to keep working with as a club. Hopefully he can go on that similar trajectory to some of the academy boys that we have here."

Sunderland’s excellent end to the U21s league campaign mean they will now play in the end-of-season play-off campaign. They have also secured a spot in next season’s Premier League International Cup.