By Dave Flett

UNDERSTANDING: Elliot Embleton and his Sunderland manager Alex Neil, below
PICTURES: Alamy

SUCH is Sunderland manager Alex Neil’s faith in youth this season that 23-year-old ‘veteran’ Elliot Embleton has found himself placed in the ‘old group’ for training.
The Black Cats fielded six players aged 22 or under – Anthony Patterson, Dan Ballard, Dennis Cirkin, Jack Clarke, Daniel Neill and Ellis Simms – in their starting line-up for last weekend’s 3-2 Championship victory at Bristol City.
Unusually, that was one more than when Neil decided to made 11 changes to gave the...