Sunderland reserves coach Keith Bertschin is happy to see their young players shift out on loan.

Ben Wilson, Billy Knott and John Egan have also left on loan recently in order to gain valuable first-team experience.

"I said to the players quite a long time ago that I can normally tell how well they're doing by the amount of phone calls I get about them after a game," he told safc.com.

"They looked at me funnily but lo and behold, a year or two later they're playing well at this level and being invited out to go on loan to other clubs.

"It's a learning curve for them and we feel it's important for our players to go out and experience senior football. Hopefully they'll come back better for it."