TONY Mowbray admits he knew very little about Trai Hume when he was appointed as Sunderland's head coach a little over a year ago.

The talented defender soon saw to that. From knocking on his manager's door and asking why he wasn't getting more opportunities to making his gaffer go "wow" when a chance presented itself - Hume quickly made an impact and set about turning himself into a major figure in Mowbray's Sunderland side.

Twelve months ago, Hume had started just one Championship game in the early stages of the season. Move forward a year and only three outfield Sunderland players have played more minutes so far this season than Hume, who has started all 14 league games and completed 12. The two games he didn't finish, he was replaced late on.

Seeing his number go up and being replaced in the second half of games is something Hume might have to get used to. Not that Mowbray wants to take him off, it's just that the head coach is a touch concerned about the amount of football the full-back is playing.

Hume is just 21 and as well as becoming a key man for Sunderland, he's also established himself in the Northern Ireland side and played the entirety of both games for Michael O'Neill's side in the most recent international break.

Last week, Hume made his 50th Sunderland appearance and on Saturday he scored his first goal of the season, his crucial leveller against Norwich acting as a springboard for the Black Cats to go on and pick up all three points.

"Trai has grown into an international footballer now. He's matured a lot," said Mowbray.

"I remember the first few months, him knocking on my office door on an afternoon and having a sit down and having a chat about him not getting a chance. I knew nothing about Trai Hume to be honest. He was just a young player in the squad.

"I think Gooch or O'Nien was probably playing right-back at the time and he just felt he was down the pecking order really.

"I told him to wait his turn, be patient, there's going to be injuries and there'll be opportunities and you have to grab it when it comes along and you make me think 'wow'. As has happened. Gooch has moved on, O'Nien is now stuck in at centre-half and Trai has made the right-back position his own.

"We roll him into midfield at times. He's more than technical enough to play that role and do that job. We're really happy with Trai Hume."

READ MORE:

Mowbray will, however, closely monitor the right-back over the coming days, weeks and months and ensure his workload is as manageable as possible. A full seven days between the win over Norwich and the trip to Swansea on Saturday is welcomed by the boss.

"We're a bit concerned at the minute about the amount of football he's played," said Mowbray of Hume.

"He's had two or three three-game weeks on the back of two international fixtures with another international break coming up in a couple of weeks.

"At some stage he'll be getting substituted off and the opportunity for the young centre-backs or the young defenders will be in front of them really. We have to do it, we have to be careful we don't lose Trai to an injury through overuse."