Sunderland Under 21’s defender Luke Bell proud to be able to help the younger players

18-year-old Luke Bell Captained Sunderland U21’s on Monday evening with 11 u18’s in the match day squad.

The Young Black Cats came from 1-0 down to lead 2-1 through a brace from 16 year old Felix Scott but Spurs stole all three points at the death.

The defender made his first appearance for the u21’s at the beginning of last season and played a part in Sunderland’s run to the Play-Off final, cementing himself a place in the side.

Talking about Monday night’s performance Bell said:”It’s a hard one to take because I know for 90% of the game we played really well. We really lived up to the intensity of the game and obviously with young players you could have expected us to be chasing the game. I think we really took it to them we brought out our quality in the game and the younger players all played really well.”

Discussing the feeling of being able to help the younger players Bell explained: “It’s really nice to see, this time last year I was one of the younger ones coming into the side through the Play-Offs. It was me that was trying to understand how it works at the level above and to now be able to try and help some others play through that, it’s a really nice feeling when I know I was in the same position.

Ahead of Friday nights clash with Aston Villa the defender said: “You don’t try and change the preparation too much. If you change too much it can make the occasion out as really big and put a bit more pressure on it. We just to try to prepare the same as we always do, theres nothing wrong with what we do, so if we just stick to the basics hopefully we’ll get a nice result.

Friday nights tie is the final game of Premier League 2 for the Black Cats who can still earn a spot in the Play-Offs.Kick off is from 7pm at Bodymoor Heath.