Tony Mowbray has revealed what was said in a "long chat" with Chris Rigg after the Sunderland midfielder was called up to represent England's Under-17s at this month's World Cup.

Mowbray believes Rigg will benefit enormously from the experience, but it says everything about the midfielder's importance at Sunderland - despite the fact he's only 16 - that the head coach is "disappointed" to lose the youngster for four games.

Rigg will link up with the squad next week ahead of the tournament in Indonesia, with England's first game against New Caledonia taking place a week on Saturday. The tournament runs until December 2, which means Rigg could miss Sunderland's games against Birmingham, Plymouth, Huddersfield and Millwall.

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Mowbray said: "I'm delighted for him. I'm disappointed he'll miss four games but I'm delighted for Chris.

"It's a fantastic achievement to potentially captain that team. It's a fine balance. We had a long chat with him, we told him we're delighted for him, it's a fantastic experience and this club would never deny a young guy playing for his country in a World Cup.

"It's amazing, but he has to understand when he comes back, let's hope the results have all been really positive and he finds it difficult to get back in the group.

"But we're delighted for him that he's going to a World Cup and hopefully they can be successful."

After a record breaking breakthrough last season, Rigg has established himself as a regular in Mowbray's Sunderland squads this term. He's been in the matchday squad in 13 of Sunderland's 14 league games so far this season, coming off the bench on six occasions.