Since his dramatic debut Josh Maja has been just the way good strikers should be – super cool.
And just as the 18-year-old has not got carried away about scoring a winner five minutes into his league debut, so Chris Coleman is not going overboard about what the future holds for his bright young thing.
Maja came off the bench 18 minutes from time against Fulham, and quickly scored the game’s only goal. You would not know it from his training ground demeanour since, says his manager.
“He’s been calm, Josh, he’s been calm,” said Coleman. “I think that’s why he took the goal so well.
“It was a brilliant debut but Josh and (Joel) Asoro (who came on with him) know there’s a lot of hard work ahead, but they’ve made a good start. It’s something for them to build and work on and they’re part of the first-team squad.
“Will they get a chance against Birmingham? Maybe. They’ve just got to make sure they enjoy every minute of it and take from it as much as they can.
“For a young striker when you score on your debut, especially in a game like that, there’s going to be a lot said about that but his feet are firmly on the floor, which is where they should be anyway because there’s a lot of hard work for all our younger players who are showing promise and doing well but not the finished article.
“There’s a lot of hard work in front of them.”
It is much the same message for the rest of the team ahead of what Coleman has described as Saturday’s much bigger game against Birmingham City.
While the Blues were dropping to the bottom of the Championship, the Black Cats were clambering out of the relegation zone.
“We’re far, far away from being in the position where we can say, ‘Wow, that was scary but we’re fine now,’” Coleman said.
“All we can do is keep meeting the challenge week by week and so far I’ve been pleased with what I’ve got back from them.”
Having improved their standing while Coleman has been in charge at the Stadium of Light, the Welshman has warned twin teenage terrors Maja and Asoro the next bit will be even harder.
“It’ll go the way they want it to go,” he said. “It is about what they want from it.
“I can’t say they will do A, B,C – how it will go is up to them.
“Do they want to build on the little step forward they’ve made – and that is all it is – or do they want to listen to the wrong people, telling them they’re this and that, how brilliant they are? That’s a shame if they do that.
“There’ll be loads of agents telling them they’re this and that when they’re not. They’re young players with real promise which we’ve got to bring out of them, but it is about them and making those sacrifices.
“That’s it with all young players, when they make a mark, do well in the senior squad, that’s where the danger comes. They get totally carried away with it, they need to realise that it is even harder to stay there.
“Those who do are the ones who make it.”