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Sunderland's teenage striker prospect has impressed Regis Le Bris in dazzling season

A regular and consistent scorer for the Under-18s and Under-21s, the frontman's form in the academy ranks has been recognised in house and the 18-year-old has stepped up to train with the first team on several occasions.

He was the travelling reserve with the squad for the FA Cup tie at Oxford and then made the bench in the next round at Port Vale.

And earlier this month, Geragusian also received his first senior call-up to the Armenia squad and could make his debut against Belarus this weekend.

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Geragusian was born in County Durham and is a boyhood Sunderland fan, but qualified to play for Armenia through his grandfather on his mum's side.

Linking up with the national side for the first time is another string to Geragusian's bow in a memorable season in which he's impressed Sunderland's head coach Regis Le Bris.

"He had a few training sessions with us and I appreciate his profile," says the Sunderland boss.

"He is a good lad, really well connected with the mentality of the region and the club. He is a good footballer with a strong physicality.

"In this league, you probably need two strong centre-backs, a strong forward, and the ability to be competitive in duels, first contact, second ball and so on. He is really well-rounded. After that, he is young, so he needs experience. He needs to improve different things, but I like his profile."

Geragusian's form hasn't gone unnoticed elsewhere, with the striker being linked with Rangers and Nottingham Forest earlier this month.

But he's extremely highly rated by coaches and officials at the Academy of Light, as was evident when he got the nod to be part of the first team squad for the recent FA Cup ties.

"It's a great experience to be with the first team, travelling with them to Oxford and then being on the bench at Port Vale, it was just amazing and hopefully I'll be able to get there again," said the striker recently.

"All the team were really nice and welcoming, they're a great bunch of players as well."

Armenia, who are currently ranked 105th in the world rankings, face Belarus in a friendly in Yerevan on Sunday.

Geragusian says his grandfather has taught him about the "heritage and culture" of the country, and the striker is learning to speak the language.

He said: "I'm so proud of myself and what I've achieved. Getting that call-up, all my family were so proud, my grandad especially.

"I'm so proud to represent Armenia and I'm going to give it my all."

Elsewhere on the international stage, Granit Xhaka is in action tonight when Switzerland take on Germany in a friendly in Basel.

Xhaka headed off to link up with his national side on the back of Sunderland's brilliant derby win at Newcastle on Sunday.

That was just the second time the midfielder had completed the full 90 minutes for the Black Cats since his return from injury, with Le Bris having closely managed his skipper back to full fitness.

Switzerland also play Norway in a friendly next Tuesday, but Xhaka will then have a full week and a half to recover and prepare for the Premier League game against Tottenham.

And Sunderland will have been pleased to hear Switzerland boss Murat Yakin say he will let Xhaka take the lead on how much he football he wants to play for his national side in the coming days.

He said: “I’m in close contact with Granit. I’m not worried; he knows his body. We’ll discuss how long he’ll play.”

Le Bris said this week the current three-week stoppage will be "useful" for Sunderland as a number of key players recover from injuries.

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