Tony Mowbray gives a straightforward assessment of Sunderland’s progress after a disappointing week: ‘I think’…

Tony Mowbray acknowledges that his position will be scrutinized if Sunderland’s winless streak continues, but he insists that he is developing the club’s young talent for the future.

The Black Cats fought back to prevent Millwall from making it three defeats in a row, thanks to Jack Clarke’s late penalty at The Den, which also reduced the gap to the top six to three points.

Nonetheless, there has been dissatisfaction on Wearside with what has been an overall poor week of results and with the goal-scoring issues in the final third persisting with little sign of resolution.

Mowbray insists that he is building a very good side that is consistently showing that they can control championship games, but that the need to integrate and develop the young talent at the top end of the pitch will have an impact on short-term results.
Sunderland now face two challenging home games against West Brom and Leeds United before another long trip to Bristol City.
“We’ll put the point in the bag; we’ve got two home games coming up,” Mowbray told safc.com after the game.
“They’re against top teams, of course, but it’s a great chance to see where we are, and we’ll give them a good game, I’m sure.
“No one likes getting beat, but I look at the performances in the two defeats before this game… there’s not a lot wrong other than we have to stick the ball in the net. I don’t sit and think, After those defeats, where are we going? I sit and think we have a really good football team, but in this industry, you get judged on results.

In some of the defeats we’ve had, I thought we were magnificent at Leicester, and before the red card against Middlesbrough, I thought we were dominant.
“I live in a world where I get judged on results, but I want these players to be judged on their performance, their work ethic, and their desire to be better footballers. Of course you get judged every week on the league table so I understand it—three without a win, etc. “I’ve always tried to be a development coach to help the players get better and understand the game better. And hopefully, the results will follow.

If they don’t, you lose your job. That’s fine; that’s football, and I understand it.
“What I hope is that these players down the line, like a lot of the players I’ve worked with over the years, that the period they spent working with us helped them get better. I hope the alignment between developing and winning can be found.
“It’s going to be a slightly longer journey than people might hope at this football club because of the inexperience of some of the footballers.”
Sunderland now have a week to recover and prepare for West Brom’s visit, with Carlos Corberan’s side in excellent form despite losing in the last minute to Leicester City on Saturday afternoon.