MICK McCARTHY has vowed to give youth its head as he begins his Sunderland revolution.

The new Black Cats manager insists he will not be afraid to put his faith in the talented crop of young players he has inherited.

Sean Thornton, 19, has impressed in his limited first-team appearances, while the likes of Michael Proctor, George McCartney, Kevin Kyle and Ben Clark have also come to the fore this season.

McCarthy supervised Shay Given, Robbie Keane and Damien Duff's development from international novices to World Cup stars during his time as Republic of Ireland coach.

Now, McCarthy is promising to hand the next generation of Wearside talent a leading role as he starts afresh after Sunderland's disastrous slide towards the Nationwide League.

He said: "I'm not averse to bringing through youngsters and giving them a game. It worked very well when I was with Ireland.

"Shay Given got his debut in my first game in charge, and a lot of other lads - Robbie Keane, Damien Duff, Colin Healy and David Connolly - came through as well. They weren't established international players when I took over, and the same goes for Kenny Cunningham, Mark Kinsella and Matt Holland.

"A lot of established internationals went, but people like Niall Quinn, Jason McAteer and Roy Keane were retained and they did well for me."

Thornton is aiming to enjoy an extended run of Premiership appearances after his display was one of precious few positives McCarthy could take from Saturday's defeat to Bolton Wanderers.

The teenager could be pushed out of the team at West Ham this weekend by the probable return of Kevin Kilbane and McAteer.

But he said: "I was pleased to get a start and I thought I did pretty well. There were players suspended and injured, but I hope I've done enough to stay in the team."

Thornton added: "Every game is like a World Cup Final for us from now until the end of the season.

"It's going to be very difficult for us now. It's still possible, but really we had to win on Saturday."

Stephen Wright had a scan on his hamstring injury and is expected to find out today the extent of the problem.

Read more about Sunderland here.