Tony Mowbray is considering handing 15-year-old Chris Rigg his first-team debut in Sunderland's weekend FA Cup third round trip to Shrewsbury Town. The highly-rated teenage midfielder has been on the fringes of the first team this season, travelling with the Black Cats to Birmingham in November although he did not make the bench that day, and he was an unused substitute in Sunday's visit to Blackpool.
Rigg trained with the first-team today and will again be part of the squad this weekend and, depending on the situation in the game, Mowbray may use the cup game as an opportunity to give the youngster a taste of senior action. "He's coming with us. I watched him train today with the first team and do the game-prep, and I have to say he is really impressive," said Mowbray.
"He's not a big, strong, physical, guy - he's quite slight - but he has a wonderful left foot and he is an incredibly competitive animal. I've seen him for 20-30 minutes in an U21 game against Southampton, and his potential looks enormous to me.
