DENVER HUME has been hailed as a sign of Sunderland’s bright future and an indication of how academy graduates will make Jack Ross’ squad even stronger.

Hume, who made his first team debut last season, was introduced to the Sunderland starting line-up against Sheffield Wednesday in the Carabao Cup and then impressed against Stoke’s Under-21s in the Checkatrade Trophy last week.

He was rewarded with a starting spot against Fleetwood on Saturday, when Ross handed him a place on his preferred left-hand side having already proven he can shine on the right.

Ross can use the 22-year-old as a capable option in both full-back roles and the Northumberland-born defender’s performances have not gone unnoticed.

Sunderland goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin said: “He played well last Tuesday night and it just shows what can happen if you take your chance.

“He's a young lad with massive potential and he's gone into the cup competition, impressed, and given the gaffer something to think about for the rest of the week, so much so that he's put him in the starting line-up for the next league game.

“He showed a great attitude on Tuesday night to go out there and stamp his mark and he's got his rewards for it. He played well again versus Fleetwood. He's a very good player, a defender who's got real quality going the other way as well. The more players you have in your squad who are contributing, the better over the course of the season.”

Ross has already shown that he is more than willing to turn to academy graduates, with striker Josh Maja the perfect example after starting the campaign with five goals.

McLaughlin said: “We've still got a couple yet to come back and we've got a team and a squad where if everybody's fit there will be no stronger team. No one will come close in this division.

“It would be great if we could get everyone fit and firing – the competition for places would be great and give the gaffer a real headache about who he puts out there.”

The manager needs to find a solution to his side trailing to give the promotion charge a boost.

After the draw with Fleetwood, when the Black Cats fell behind for the fifth time this season, he highlighted a weakness at set-pieces as concern and the biggest contributory factor to conceding the first goal.

McLaughlin said: “It's one area that is very important. More and more teams are going to see it as an opportunity but it's something you can get on the training pitch and work solidly on to find the solution.

“There's no easy answer. It's not so simple you can just say, 'That's it, we've cracked it.' Teams are doing everything they can and at this level they use it as a big opportunity, particularly if they're not getting possession, if they're not getting a lot from open play, it's a fantastic opportunity.

“We know that, so we have to keep working hard to make sure we're in games and we don't go behind and give away cheap goals. If we cut out all the set-play goals teams have hardly laid a glove on us in open play. It's a big area for us to box off but if we can do that we'll be a very difficult team to break down.”

Sunderland owner Stewart Donald, meanwhile, revealed on TalkSport that he has paid the last installment on the Didier Ndong transfer fee to French club Lorient, in excess of £3m.

Both deals for Ndong and Papy Djilobodji have now been paid in in full. He also suggested Djilboodji reported back to the Academy of Light after a 72 day-exile, but hasn’t been seen since an initial meeting last week.

Sunderland are still taking legal advice on what course of action to take on the futures of Djilobodji and Ndong.