Régis Le Bris hails Chris Rigg’s maturity and renewed trust at Sunderland | OneFootball

Régis Le Bris has praised Chris Rigg’s application as the teenager forces his way back into Sunderland’s starting XI. He says the youngster has earned renewed trust from senior team-mates.

According to Sunderland Echo, Rigg’s league minutes were sparse in the first half of the Premier League season. He did not feature between the 3-0 defeat to Brentford on 7 January and the 1-0 win over Leeds on 3 March.

He then starred in the 1-0 defeat to Brighton at the Stadium of Light, laying the platform for an excellent display in the 2-1 win over Newcastle United a week later. Team-mates showed their faith by giving him the ball in tight areas.

Le Bris said that when a player like Granit wants to play with you it shows maturity. He stressed that credit is earned on the pitch, noting Rigg had previously lacked composure which discouraged passes, but that his training standards, resilience and character have flipped that. He added this underlines the need for patience with a young squad and reflects Sunderland’s identity.

Rigg feels the spell out of the side has helped him improve, giving him time to work on his game. He says the priority now is keeping consistency.

The 18-year-old is with England’s U19s and was a second-half substitute in a 2-0 defeat to Serbia earlier in the week. They face Spain on Saturday at 11am, then Croatia on Tuesday at 1.45pm, and after that setback it is an uphill task to finish top and reach this summer’s European Championships.

Source: Sunderland Echo