Sunderlan goalscoring legend Marco Gabbiadini has showered praise on defenders Dan Ballard and Trai Hume. They are “a great example” of how to develop into Premier League players according to Gabbiadini who was greatly impressed with the duo’s performances for Northern Ireland in their two recent World Cup matches.

Both players have featured prominently for their country during the international break, and were unfortunate to be on the losing side against Germany on Monday evening.

Ballard had the ball in the back of the net only for his strike to be ruled out prior to Nick Woltemade’s winner in a narrow 1-0 defeat, and the towering centre-back earned plenty of plaudits for his overall display too.

The 26-year-old was lauded in both the national press and by his head coach, Michael O’Neill.

While various outlets described Ballard as “magnificent”, “outstanding”, and a “constant threat” in the opposition box, his boss said: “I thought Dan Ballard was fantastic for the 90 minutes – he looked like a top,...