Sunderland chief Graeme Murty has been forced to explain why on-loan Manchester United youngster Amad Diallo turned out for the U21s on Monday night.
The Ivorian international moved to the Stadium of Light on a season-long loan back in August, but has only made six appearances in the Championship – five of those from the bench.
The former Atalanta ace has struggled to make an impact, and yesterday was part of the U21 side that lost 1-0 to Leeds.
Murty told the Sunderland Echo: "The game was moved to the Stadium [of Light] and we've had numerous first-team players dropped into it against the side who are top of the table and playing really, really well.
“As long as they could get through it, the lads need minutes. We had the 21s ready to go on if there was anything needed or there were any issues.
“The idea is when senior players drop in to give them as many minutes as they can handle and I thought they went about it properly and it was a really good game of football."