SUNDERLAND have a mixture of youth and experience in their squad and Tuesday’s penalties win over Stoke City;s Under-21s provided an opportunity for academy graduate Denver Hume to shine at right-back.

The 22-year-old, who also appeared in the league at Gillingham, was the pick of the Sunderland players as he looked to get forward to join in with the attacks.

Hume, who scored the winning penalty at the Stadium of Light, said: “Everyone has been a great help really. All the defensive players and the rest of the lads have been a great help for all the young lads. They let us in a lot and have been great with us.

“I think it's great we are getting chances. A couple of names like Bali Mumba and Maja have been mentioned regularly and I think it's great that the staff have given us that opportunity.

“What they've said to us is that if you're good enough, you're old enough as well. If we keep working hard and do everything they say I think they will give us a chance.

“When you see people getting their chances that pushes you on. Maja, he's done great this season and that makes other people want to push on and see what they can do when they push up to the first team.”

The youngsters also have a young captain to turn to in George Honeyman, who has seen his hard work in recent years recognised with a bigger role in the team – as well as the skipper’s armband.

Hume said: “It just shows if you get your head down and work hard how far you can get. I think George is a great example for all the lads coming through.

“Obviously I am happy to have been given another opportunity to play and a chance to impress so I think I need to keep doing that and see where that takes me.”

And Hume is likely to have a big part to play in the Checkatrade Trophy games, where he will be looking to prove he can step into the league side on a regular basis.

He said: “We just have to go as far as we can. We treat it as a proper competition and see how far we go. If we keep on winning games you never know.

“I played in it last year with the under-21s and its tough when you're playing against first team opposition. It's a bit different when you're playing in the first team against under-21s, but I think I did alright.”