Sunderland boss makes Jay Stansfield admission and has passionate Nazariy Rusyn message

Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray admits that the club 'pushed hard' to sign Jay Stansfield as the Fulham striker prepares to make his first appearance at the Stadium of Light on Saturday lunchtime.

The Black Cats held advanced talks with Fulham over a potential loan deal for Stansfield, but the 20-year-old ultimately opt to make the move to St Andrews and Birmingham City.

Stansfield has made a strong start to his Birmingham career, scoring five goals in thirteen appearances across all competitions thus far. Having tried to sign him on a permanent deal in the early stages of the summer, Sunderland then signed Mason Burstow on deadline day after Chelsea sanctioned a loan exit for him on deadline day.

In his pre-match press conference ahead of Birmingham's visit, Mowbray confirmed Stansfield had been a major target and that he's a player he rates highly.

"Yeah, I think so [a player we looked at]," Mowbray said.

"I never got to the point of expecting him to arrive the next day, but it was something we chased pretty hard but, for whatever reason, it didn't happen. I did have a conversation with him and I spoke to his manager at Fulham, and they were pretty sound and happy that he was coming here. I don't know the reason [why he didn't come].

"I was a young footballer once, and to take you out of your roots and to send you 350 miles up the country is probably daunting.

"As I say, I don't know the reason - maybe he thinks Birmingham is a great club, or maybe it's a one-hour train journey from Birmingham Central to King's Cross, I don't know. That said, he is a good footballer, he knows where the back of the net is and he has scored a few goals for them."

Mowbray continues to try and find the right formula up front for his Sunderland side, with none of the club's striking additions in the summer window getting on the scoresheet as of yet.

The head coach looks likely to hand Nazariy Rusyn his third start as he looks to let the Ukrainian settle into the side, having come close to scoring his first goal in the early stages of the draw with Swansea City last week. However, Mowbray has insisted that he will continue to give opportunities to Mason Burstow and Luis Hemir to prove they can hold down a place in the side in the long run.

While the January market looms large as Sunderland's frustrations continue, Mowbray insists that his new strikers need time and simply cannot be expected to hit the ground running.

"They're all young players just at different levels," Mowbray said.

"Nazariy isn't as young and he is getting his opportunity. He arrived in the UK not really speaking the language and he's still doing his lessons, and we're still using Timor [Tuterov] to help with that understanding. We started Mason seven games I think and somewhere along the line, I've spoken to him and I'm hoping he can get going from the bench. We've given Naz the chance to impact the team now and see if he can score goals. Mason helped us win matches, I think we won four or five on the bounce, he just didn't score. Strikers ultimately get judged on the data and the goals they score and the assists they create.

"As we sit here now Naz is playing up front for this team. Hemir did well for us in pre-season and yet the standard wasn't the same as the teams we are facing in this division. Mayenda is only just getting fit now and he will get an opportunity.

"Everyone is going to get an opportunity and will be given time to see what they can do. It's not as if it's, 'you've had your chance and you're out now'. Mason is going to get chances off the bench to score goals.

"It's just about fairness, as they are getting fitter they need to get opportunities. Somewhere along the line I need to give Hemir the opportunity, and every day in between we need to keep pushing him so he understands what we need for him.

"These players will get the chance. If they don't score then I hope we'll look at it in January, because I've said before that you need 70 goals if you want to finish in the play offs.

"They need time and opportunity, especially when they are coming in to a new country. It might be a year before we say about Naz, 'wow, what a player - forget about those couple of months at the start'. They have to acclimatise and it just isn't fair to judge them on a few months in a new country when they don't yet have the language and they can't yet be really be part of it in the dressing room.

"Naz has come from Ukraine to the north east of England - he can't straight away pick up those things in training, 'get your backside over there,' 'mark your man', all that. It will take time for him to pick all of this up. He has to learn as he goes along.

"It just doesn't happen straight away, it takes time."

Eliezer Mayenda is expected to be named on the bench on Saturday and could make his debut against Birmingham City, though it will be from the bench if so as he builds his match fitness.