Highly rated Tottenham Hotspur youngster Kazaiah Sterling has long been tipped with a good future in the game and he’s impressed plenty as he’s come through our Academy ranks in recent years.
The 20-year-old made the switch out to League One side Sunderland back on deadline day in the January transfer window, and as he adjusted and increased his fitness from Under 23 football, it’s not unfair to have described it as a mixed spell so far with one substitute appearance in both February and March having failed to get off (or at points onto) the substitutes bench at other points. Injury also complicated things for him as he looked to settle in at the Stadium of Light.
Their manager Jack Ross had spoken about competition for places previously indicating that in some ways he can consider himself unlucky, but in their midweek tie with Accrington Stanley he seized his chance and scored his maiden professional goal as they took all three points.
He has previously found the back of the net for our U23s in their EFL Trophy clash with Wimbledon back in October 2017, but that competition is a bit of a fudge.
The confidence should certainly do him the world of good and hopefully it’ll now be the first of many as he looks to kick on.
Ross certainly seems to think he will.
“He has taken a while to adjust in terms of how we train and what we do, it is a big jump to be in the first team environment. It has been difficult with the Checkatrade ineligibility, a bit stop start for him but this was a chance to be on the park and I had a feeling he would score given how stretched the game was. It was a good finish from Kaz, a big moment for him.”