SPEAKMAN ON JOBE

Kristjaan Speakman has explained the impact Jobe Bellingham had at Sunderland and revealed that the young midfielder played a big role in convincing the club to use a team bus to travel to the home leg against Coventry City.

KEY PLAYER

"I've known Jobe since he was six or seven - when he came here, he came because I think he saw what Sunderland could be and wanted to be part of that story. He didn't want at that point to go to a club and just be a bit-part player, he wanted to go somewhere where he could have an impact."

FAN CONNECTION

"Jobe trains, plays and does everything with his heart on his sleeve and I think that's where the connection with the supporters comes from."

BUILT THE ATMOSPHERE

"To give you an insight, going into the play-offs, I can't remember which game it was exactly but Jobe had seen I think it was Liverpool where the team came in and there was all the red [flares and flags etc] and all the fans. We usually come to home games in cars but Jobe said 'this is what it should be like' and I said, ‘you're right’. I got straight onto our head of operations and said: can we get the coach and come in for the home game in the play-offs?"

WISH HIM ALL THE BEST

"So that whole thing comes from a player, a young player, thinking not just about his role on the pitch but everything [around the club]. I think that just tells you about his ethos and how he approached his time here at Sunderland, and how he'll approach at it Dortmund. There's always pressure for a player coming into a club but Jobe came and performed well, developed, evolved as a person and player. He gave everything for the shirt and like with all players, sometimes it's the right time to move on."