Midfielder Ethan Robson hopes that academy stars stick together for Sunderland's big rebuild

Robson recently signed a new contract that will keep him on Wearside until 2020 at the earliest.

After making his full debut earlier in the year, the 21-year-old returned to the starting XI that lost 2-1 Fulham last Friday, a game that turned out to be Chris Coleman’s last in charge.

Coleman had a big role planned for the club’s youngsters next season and despite his departure, that is unlikely to change.

Robson said: “We need to stick together because it could be a big season for us.

“We need to take the experience we’ve had this season into next season and hopefully have a good season.

“It’s great to be playing with the likes of Joel (Asoro) and Josh (Maja).

“We all strive to be regulars in the team. George Honeyman, this season, has played a lot of games. We’d all love to do that.

“We all love to put the shirt on and we’d like to show the fans we’ve got a determination to play for the club. Next season hopefully we’ll get a bit more game-time.

“There’s a lot of players that care and last Friday I thought we showed that, we were just unlucky,” he added.

“For us homegrown players, we want the club to do as well as it can.

“As a Sunderland fan myself, it (relegation) hurts me loads, and it’s the same for the other lads.

“But hopefully next season we can have a great season and bounce back.”

The performances from the likes of Asoro and Honeyman have attracted interest from elsewhere and the pair have just one year left on their current deals, That also applies to Maja and Lynden Gooch.

The Black Cats will be eager to resolve their futures quickly but for now, Robson is hoping to end the season on a high against Wolves this Sunday lunchtime.

He said: “Fingers crossed I’m involved, because I love being out on the pitch.”

“I I feel like the game (against Wolves) would be good for me, and it would be good to end the season on a high and, knowing what’s happened, we’d like to put a performance on for the fans.”