Remarkably, Rigg reached the milestone against Burnley in the Championship at Turf Moor on Friday evening at the age of just 17 years old. The England youth international was handed his debut by Mowbray in the FA Cup against Shrewsbury two years ago.
Mowbray, 61, has just been appointed as West Brom’s new manager after winning his fight with bowel cancer. The former Middlesbrough favourite joined Birmingham City last season after his sacking by Sunderland but had to step away for health reasons.
“I am who I am. I didn’t shy away from anything,” Rigg said when asked about his introduction to Sunderland’s first team by Tony Mowbray ahead of last Friday’s game against Burnley. “I’ve always driven standards since I was a kid and I wasn’t going to stop it if I got in the first team.
“I think that was just me. I think that’s what the lads like about me, especially Tony Mowbray did because he had that sort of trust like I was a senior player and he had paid off for it. It was massive. Obviously, if he wasn’t there, I probably wouldn’t have had some of these pictures in here. So I’m so glad that he did trust me and I’ll always be thankful.”
Rigg started the game as Sunderland drew 0-0 with the Clarets on Friday night at Turf Moor but was replaced in the second half by Eliezer Mayenda. The Black Cats are next in action against Derby County at Pride Park on Tuesday night.
