Sunderland youth chief Ged McNamee has revealed how club owner Ellis Short helped place three released youngsters at US colleges.

Short is a man of actions rather than words and his help for a crop of released Sunderland youngsters should impress Black Cats supporters.

"People might not know, but three lads who were with us last year are now on scholarships overseas and Ellis has helped them with great support to achieve that," McNamee told The Journal.

"These three boys who have gone to America had been in the Academy a long time and he felt that this was the right thing to do.

"They have given us a lot of commitment and we'd had support from their parents over the years and he just felt that it was the right thing to do."