GRAEME Murty understands the excitement surrounding Sunderland teenager Tom Watson but has reiterated the need for patience with the winger ahead of an intriguing pre-season.

The 17-year-old starred for Sunderland's Under-21s this term, with Murty's side turning heads in their run to the Premier League 2 play-off final.

Watson scored five goals and created five more in 15 Premier League 2 outings, his form leading to an appearance from the bench for the first team in the final minutes of the home defeat to Sheffield Wednesday on the last weekend of the season.

There'd been growing calls for Watson - who made his senior debut under Tony Mowbray the previous season - to be handed his first team chance in the final weeks of the campaign.

He is likely to get a chance to impress Sunderland's new head coach when pre-season gets underway but Under-21s boss Murty has again warned against expecting too much too soon from the youngster.

He said: "He's a talent and people are looking at him.

"We need to make sure he doesn’t get disheartened when doesn’t turn (his good play) into goals, we have to make sure we continue to develop him because he has some really good attributes but he is not the finished article yet.

"There’s still so much to come from him. And that, for me, is the best part of this job as a whole. We’ve barely scratched the surface with this group. There’s more to come.

"My challenge, and John’s [Hewitson] challenge, is to make sure we give them whatever is necessary to make the next part available to them in their development and their growth. We can’t give them too much, too soon.

"We have to make sure we drip-feed it into them at the right time and if anything, about my own role, that’s the thing I’m proudest of this year. We haven’t tried to give it to them too soon, we’ve given it to them in the right amount at the right time and they’ve lapped it up."

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Murty has done a fine job with Sunderland's youngsters since joining the club two years ago. He combined his work as head of development phase with supporting Mike Dodds in the first team coaching set-up in the second half of the season, and while there remains uncertainty over the head coach situation as things stand and therefore Murty's exact role going forward, the former Rangers boss is calm.

He said: "I’m going to be doing my job. Until I’m told otherwise, I’m going to be looking after these guys.

"I love working with this group, they’re great to work with.

"They’re talented, they’re hardworking, they’re honest and we’ve created, myself and my staff, a relationship with these players where we can be constructively critical, but we’re honest with them about where they need to get better and they take it really well and they hold each other to account really well. For me, looking at that group, I could not be happier with what they’ve done this year. I’ve really enjoyed working with them."

Murty previously had a stint in charge of the first team at Rangers and has been linked with senior jobs since his arrival on Wearside, but he says he's happy in his current role.

"I’m not thinking about it, at all," he said of moving back into senior football management. "I enjoy working with the first team when I’m asked to. I enjoy that different challenge, but I enjoy this challenge.

"I’m just thinking about making sure I get my ducks in a row considering these players’ futures, because I have a really big responsibility to make sure next season is better in development-wise than this season was, and that’s a challenge because this season has been particularly good.

"But we need to look and reflect upon the programme as a whole and not just the games programme what you see. We have to make sure we continue to give them the experiences they need to continue to grow and, for me, that’s all I’m considering at the moment."