Sam Allardyce backs Sunderland and England youngster to succeed ahead of Stoke clash



Watmore has been one of the few high points of an otherwise difficult start at Sunderland



DUNCAN WATMORE is being backed to graduate with honours at Sunderland.

 

Watmore earned a first class degree in Economics and Business Management at Newcastle University, now Allardyce is tipping the 21-year-old to prove equally adept on the pitch.

"He has great attributes," said the Sunderland manager ahead of today's visit of Stoke.

"His ability to receive the ball, his energy and capabilities of beating a player and then getting away is the exciting thing. Some players can beat an opponent quite easily but cannot get away from them because of lack of pace but he can do both."

Team-mate Jermain Defoe claims the youngster reminds him of Gareth Bale but Allardyce knows the plaudits will not go to his head - especially with former FA chief executive Ian for a dad.

 

"We seem to see so many youngsters go off the rails," he said. "His dad, with his FA and rugby background, hopefully, wouldn't let Duncan get too above his station or too cocky too quickly. When you get all the headlines, it's easy to go the wrong way. You have to get rid of all those distractions which can be very difficult for a young man with a few bob in his pocket."

And to that end, Stoke managers Mark Hughes believes he has found the best way to tap into Marko Arnautovic's reserves of talent while keeping the winger on the straight and narrow.

Hughes signed Arnautovic from Werder Bremen for £2million in August, 2013 with the Austrian international arriving with the reputation of a maverick.

 

Allardyce has seen it all before, but believes Watmore has the ability and the nous to succeed

Arnautovic, a friend of Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli, was once described by Jose Mourinho, briefly his manager at Inter Milan, as someone who is "a fantastic person but has the attitude of a child".

"You have to manage Marko but you have to manage lots of players in different ways," said Hughes. "I could see he wasn't happy in his situation. Maybe the rigidity of German football wasn't quite going with Marko so he just needed a place where he could feel a little bit more freedom and I think we've been perfect for him."