Lee Johnson has expressed his delight at how Elliot Embleton is getting on away from Sunderland.

Following a frustrating first half of the campaign with the Black Cats the decision was made to allow the midfielder to head out on loan to League One rivals Blackpool.

Since then the 21-year-old has rarely looked back after featuring in eight of the 11 matches that he's been available for.

The Tangerines are enjoying a strong campaign and find themselves firmly in the hunt for a play-off spot, and according to Lee Johnson, it's great to see the player thriving in order to aid his development.

As quoted by Chronicle Live, Johnson said: "It's pleased me - it's exactly why we let him go there.

"We couldn't offer him as many minutes between January and the end of the season as we would have liked, then it was best for him to go and get those at a good club, playing the right way, and also taking points off our rivals as well.

"I've been in contact with Elliot and he is really enjoying it. [Blackpool director] Ben Mansford was my old CEO at Barnsley so we're in contact as well, and of course we have got Blackpool to play twice so I'm quite pleased that Elliot won't be available in those two games because he's on loan."

The verdict

It's be interesting to see what the future holds for Elliot Embleton.

The midfielder is a hugely popular figure at the Stadium Of Light but with the club challenging for promotion to the Championship it remains to be seen whehther he'll have a future at the club.

Either way, the fact that he's performing well for Blackpool in their play-off push is big for him as a player and shows that he's more than capable of being a good player at this level.