AFTER spending last season with Sunderland, Callum Doyle will come up against his former side on the opening day of the season at the Stadium of Light after completing a loan move to Coventry City.

The 18-year-old has made a season long loan move to the Sky Blues from Premier League champions Manchester City. He spent the summer winning the Under-19’s European Championships with England scoring during a 3-1 win over Israel in the final.

Having initially started as a regular in the first-team under Lee Johnson, Doyle was pulled out of the side by Alex Neil after his appointment at the Stadium of Light in Februrary citing physical and mental fatigue in the younger players in the squad. From then, Doyle struggled to regain his place in the side as Danny Batth and Bailey Wright made up Neil’s defensive pairing.

The central defender played 42 games in all competitions scoring one goal and was a late substitute in the Black Cats play-off final win over Wycombe Wanderers.

Commenting on last season on Wearside, Doyle said: “The whole season, I thought it went well.

“It was a great experience for me, first season in professional football and it was good to be around the first-team and it was good to get the opportunity to play as many games as I did so all-in-all, a really good experience.”

When asked about facing his former side on the opening day of the season, Doyle replied: “I don’t think the fans will like it but I’m really buzzing to start it off there.”

Sunderland have filled the void left by Doyle in defence for next season with the signing of Daniel Ballard, who joined the club on a permanent deal from Premier League side Arsenal.

The Black Cats kick off their season on Sunday 31st July against Mark Robins’ Coventry side for a lunchtime kick-off.