ADIL AOUCHICHE and Nazariy Rusyn pressed their claims for more senior involvement with Sunderland as they impressed for the club’s Under-21 side last night.

The summer signings both played for 70 minutes as Sunderland’s second-string side beat Derby County 3-1 at Eppleton.

Aouchiche, a 21-year-old attacking-midfielder who joined the Black Cats from Lorient in the summer, opened the scoring for the Black Cats shortly before the half-hour mark as he rolled home from close range following good work from Rusyn.

Rusyn, whose move from Ukrainian side Zorya Luhansk dragged on through the first half of this month because of complications over his visa, then claimed his second assist of the evening a few minutes later as he broke onto a through ball from Jenson Seelt and drew a foul that enabled Ellis Taylor to score from the spot.

The Northern Echo: Nazariy Rusyn made his senior Sunderland debut as a substitute against CardiffNazariy Rusyn made his senior Sunderland debut as a substitute against Cardiff (Image: Ian Horrocks)

Seelt and Nectarios Triantis, two more summer arrivals from overseas, played the full 90 minutes alongside each other at centre-half, while Portuguese forward Luis Hemir played alongside Rusyn in attack for 70 minutes before he was also replaced.

Aouchiche is probably the closest of last night’s players to making a sustained breakthrough at first-team level given that he has been a second-half substitute in each of Sunderland’s last three Championship matches against QPR, Blackburn and Cardiff.

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Hemir and Rusyn also came off the bench against the Bluebirds at the weekend, and will hope to be back in the matchday squad when Sunderland head to Hillsborough to take on Sheffield Wednesday on Friday night.

While some managers are reluctant to play senior players at Under-21 level, Tony Mowbray clearly feels there is considerable benefit to giving his youngsters minutes on the pitch, especially if they are still settling into life in English football after moving from abroad.

There is a knock-on effect in terms of Sunderland’s academy players finding themselves left out of the Under-21 team, but Mowbray clearly feels that is a price worth paying as he looks to bed the latest batch of summer arrivals into the first-team squad.

“I think our Under-21 players know the policy and the way the club want to go,” said Under-21s assistant coach John Hewitson. “There will be sometimes when the first-team players get dropped in, and some of our Under-21s players play and will learn from that.

“They enjoy playing with the standard and calibre that the first-team players bring. It’s another part of their development.

“It’s interesting having to communicate with different nationalities, and then for the boys to get used to playing with them. It’s good and enjoyable.”