IN A year when Duncan Watmore achieved academic success at university, the Sunderland and England Under-21 has revealed he is using his brain to equally good effect as a footballer.

Watmore was the Young Lions’ man of the match in a 3-1 win over Switzerland on Monday evening, coming on as a substitute on 75 minutes when England were 1-0 down in the European Championships qualifier at Brighton and Hove Albion’s Amex Stadium.

His impact was felt immediately, winning a penalty for the equaliser from which James Ward-Prowse scored, scoring a second and teeing up substitute Chuba Akpom for the third in stoppage time.

Watmore is building a reputation as a supersub, and the former Altrincham forward has admitted it is no accident that he is gaining such success as an impact player.

“I’m obviously delighted,” said Watmore, who has broken into the Black Cats first team this season under firstly Dick Advocaat and now Sam Allardyce after picking up a first-class honours degree in economics and business management at Newcastle University.

“You always want to start football games but when you’re on the bench you’ve got to make an impact and show the manager what you can do and try to change the game.

“That’s your role as a substitute and hopefully I did do that, which I was very grateful for but we got the win and that was the main thing.

“When you’re on the bench, you’ve got to study the game and look what you can bring to the game if you do get a chance.

“Fortunately, I got that chance and I took it. It was one of the games when it was looking like we were struggling to break them down.

“They were quite resolute in their defending so to make the breakthrough with Prowsey [James Ward-Prowse] taking his penalty very well at a crucial time in the game and under pressure.

“And then I got the next goal and Chuba got the last, so we did well.”

Watmore started his first Premier League game for Sunderland against Southampton almost a fortnight ago, having impressed off the bench, especially in the game against Norwich City where he scored the Black Cats' consolation goal in a 3-1 defeat.

He was a Paolo Di Canio signing in 2013 but has played the majority of his football for the Sunderland development team, winning the Barclays U21 Premier League player of the year award last season. He also spent nine games at Scottish Premiership side Hibernian.

The 21-year-old is in his first year as an England Under-21 player having represented the under-20s where he was awarded the revelation of the tournament award in the prestigious Toulon Tournament over the summer.

Under-21 manager Gareth Southgate is impressed with the progress Watmore is making.

“I didn’t think for one minute that it was a game we deserved to be behind in, because there was only really one shot on target,” he said.

“We’d played extremely well up until the final third and hadn’t managed to find that cutting edge.

“So great credit to the boys that came off the bench, they put the disappointment of not starting the game to one side and it was a super contribution which really turned the game for us.

“We knew that we were ending up a little bit narrow and [Watmore's] width would give us a different option and his pace at that stage of the game, because we’d kept the ball so well and knew the opposition would tire.

“It’s important to stick to our beliefs and the way that we want to play, but also sometimes you have to go a little bit more direct and mix the game up.

“We got two strikers on the field and started to pose the opposition some different questions.

“So I’m delighted for him, he’s a great kid to work with and it’s great that he’s got his reward tonight.”