How Sunderland youngster Jake Hackett has impressed at Whitby Town to get a loan extension

Jake Hackett impressed so much in his first two weeks at Whitby Town that they quickly extended the initial month-long loan to January.

Town boss Chris Hardy has described the Sunderland academy midfielder's impact at the North Yorkshire club as 'fantastic', as he proclaimed him a player with considerable potential.

Hackett, 19, has three goals and one assist in five games for the club, and has impressed a lot at the BetVictor Northern Premier League (the seventh tier of English football) side.

In his weekly column for the Whitby Gazette, manager Hardy wrote of the Sunderland midfielder: "Jake has shown plenty of glimpses of the player he could potentially go on to be and I’ve been really impressed with him since he came into Whitby Town.

"He has that ability you’d expect from any academy footballer, but he’s also adapted to playing senior football really well and has that competitive edge about him.

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"If he continues to improve and adapt, he could really go on to dictate the tempo of games and have a real impact.

"Jake’s been fantastic since coming into the football club and continues to improve all the time."

Hackett has been at Sunderland since he was eight and made his senior debut in last season's EFL Trophy at Morecambe.