MICK McCarthy will put his faith in youth next season as Sunderland look to improve on this year's third-place showing and win promotion to the Premiership.

The Black Cats boss underlined his determination to reduce the average age of his side by axing three 30-somethings just two days after the play-off semi-final defeat to Crystal Palace.

Jason McAteer, Phil Babb and Joachim Bjorklund were all shown the exit door despite being able to boast well over 1,000 senior appearances between them.

In their place, McCarthy is keen to sign youngsters with a point to prove. The Sunderland boss is on the verge of signing 20-year-old striker Stephen Elliott from Manchester City, while he has also set up a deal to take 23-year-old centre-half Stephen Caldwell from neighbours Newcastle.

George McCartney signed a three-year contract extension at the Stadium of Light last month, while McCarthy has also been monitoring young Norwegian attacker Morten Gamst Pedersen.

The likes of McCartney, Sean Thornton and Kevin Kyle will all be stronger after a full season in the first team, and McCarthy is confident that the club's future will be in safe hands.

"Young players will only get better by playing games in the first team," said the Sunderland manager, who made his first-team debut for Barnsley at the age of 18.

"You can train them and coach them all you like. You can try to improve them but you get the best results by giving them games against better players and better teams.

"I have found that, once they have had a certain amount of coaching and got themselves to a certain level, they begin to improve themselves.

"They start to notice certain things, they pick things up as they get more experience. Kevin Kyle is a good example - he just got better and better with playing more and more games."

Elliott is expected to complete his move from the City of Manchester Stadium later this week.

The 20-year-old has been restricted to two substitute appearances for Kevin Keegan's first team, but he finished the season as City's top scorer in the reserves after bagging 11 goals in 15 games.

He is a Republic of Ireland Under-21 international but has so far failed to sign the new one-year contract offered by Manchester City.

Elliott is understood to be frustrated at his lack of opportunities with the Blues, and a move to Sunderland would give him the ideal chance to further his career.

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