Asoro admits his surprise at home debut

Joel Asoro has admitted being surprised after manager David Moyes handed him a home debut against Middlesbrough in Sunday’s Wear-Tees derby.

The 17-year-old became Sunderland’s youngest ever Premier League player when he replaced Duncan Watmore with nine minutes to go at the Stadium of Light.

Asoro was signed in 2015 and is a Swedish under-17 international, he scored seven goals in 14 appearances for the under 18s last year and was delighted to get the call from Moyes on Sunday.

“I was very pleased and I didn’t expect to come on but when the manager gave me the call I just tried to do my best,” he said.

“He looked over and waved me back and I was thinking ‘what, me?’, so I ran as quickly as I could back to the bench and got my shirt on.

(Photo credit Lindsey Parnaby/AFP/Getty Images)

“It meant so much to make my debut in front of the home crowd because everyone was screaming and the atmosphere was amazing, so I was very grateful.

“The last month has gone so quickly and I thought that if I kept training with the first team I might get a chance at the end of the season.

“I was very surprised to play and I’ve just tried to listen to all the advice the manager’s given me.”

Asoro was unable to prevent his side falling to a 2-1 defeat at the Stadium of Light and the Black Cats travel to Southampton this coming weekend.