At the Stadium of Light, Sunderland fell to Stoke City 2-1, their second defeat over the Potters in as many weeks.

With Chris Rigg and Jobe Bellingham starting on the bench, the Black Cats didn’t quite use their first team, but they still had a number of seasoned players that fell short of expectations.

In the FA Cup loss, Dan Neil didn’t quite look up to scratch, while Luke O’Nien looked off-the-pace for Regis Le Bris, handing away a penalty for Stoke City’s first goal of the match.

Nonetheless, one Sunderland player’s performance during the loss caught many off guard and demonstrated a lot of promise in his game.

Sunderland ace Harrison Jones showed plenty of promise against Stoke City

In a true show of faith in the teenager, Le Bris chose to give Sunderland young Harrison Jones his first senior start for the Black Cats in their home match against Stoke City.

Even though Sunderland had a hard time against the Potters and couldn’t really get going, Jones’ performance at the Stadium of Light was a bright spot. He looked first-team ready in the middle of the field and put on a “solid” display.

According to SofaScore, he made 18 of the 21 passes he tried and managed one crucial pass, demonstrating his strengths in tiny doses. He defeated Stoke City in an aerial duel and five ground duels because to his strong performance.

Harrison Jones showing shows that he is first-team ready

It was quite surprising that Jones was not out of his depth for a player who has only made one first team appearance and has not yet received a loan spell elsewhere. The game was very revealing in terms of Jones’ ability at this level, and after his 79-minute performance, it is evident that, even though he may not be quite ready for first-team Championship level, he is definitely ready for a loan spell elsewhere in the EFL to further his development.

The fact that a guy who has only been used in the young setup can enter the team and look good in the middle of the pitch is a true credit to Le Bris, and there is no question that this is just the beginning of what Jones can show us.