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Cattermole backs ex Sunderland youngster to improve after impressive Gateshead debut

Sunderland Echo · Mark Carruthers · 2026-08-16T18:03:31+00:00 · nguồn gốc

Lee Cattermole backs former Sunderland youngster to improve after impressive Gateshead debut Former Sunderland academy forward Michael Spellman made his Gateshead debut in a 2-0 home win against Woking on Saturday. Lee Cattermole believes former Sunderland youngster Michael Spellman will ‘only get better’ after making a promising debut for Naitonal League club Gateshead. The versatile forward was handed an immediate debut by Cattermole as he prepared for the first home league game of his time in charge at the International Stadium and Spellman rewarded his new manager with a hardworking display in a 2-0 win for his side. Goals from defensive duo Kyle Ferguson and Alex Lankshear helped the Heed land all three points - and there were several bright sparks for Cattermole during a much-improved second-half performance. Spellman looked a consistent threat throughout the second-half - and former Black Cats captain Cattermole has insisted there is more to come from the 23-year-old as he settles into life in the top tier of the non-league game. He told The Echo: “He is exciting, he’s got quality and I was really pleased for him. His performance today was very good considering he’s only been in the building for a week. He knows he will get better and I know he will only get better - but the quality he showed was clear. I am delighted with him. He’s a quality addition.” ‘Assess the situation’ Another former Sunderland youngster joined the Heed earlier this week after Academy of Light product Dan Cameron penned a short-term deal at the International Stadium. The 20-year-old goalkeeper was snapped up by Cattermole following Adam Desbois’ move to National League rivals Carlisle United - and the Heed boss has admitted he will ‘assess the situation’ over the coming weeks before making a further decision over his options. He said: “We are just assessing the situation. We lose our goalkeeper so we had to move quickly. Dan was free, he wanted to come in and train and I knew I wanted to start with Pete Jameson so we will assess the situation and see where we go with it. If you lose players, you need to try and replace them with better - and that’s been our aim since the end of last season.” Your next Sunderland read: Inside Sunderland’s £25.7m Dayann Methalie breakthrough and Florent Ghisolfi’s transfer 4D chess