Sunderland AFC news: What Tony Mowbray said about Nasiriy Rusyn, transfers and Coventry City fixture
and live on Freeview channel 276
Sunderland are preparing to face Coventry City in the Championship - and Black Cats boss Tony Mowbray held his pre-match press conference on Thursday.
The Black Cats recorded their first win of the season with a 2-1 win over Rotherham last weekend, with Jobe Bellingham scoring his first senior goals.
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Hide AdSunderland are still looking to strengthen before the end of this summer’s transfer window, particularly up front, while there could also be departures on Wearside in the coming weeks.
Here’s what was said at the Academy of Light as Mowbray spoke to the media:
RECAP: Tony Mowbray’s pre-match press conference
Key Events
- Sunderland are preparing to face Coventry City at the CBS Arena this weekend.
- Black Cats boss Tony Mowbray held his pre-match press conference at earlier today.
- Sunderland are still looking to strengthen with just over a week of the transfer window remaining.
- Patrick Roberts has been ruled out of the side’s next two matches with a hamstring injury.
Could Rotherham win kick-start the season?
“Maybe. I think the team played pretty well the first two games.
Look at Ipswich who have won all three games, and yet I do sit here and think we had a huge proportion of the game against Ipswich. They scored from a deflected pass or shot.
“There’s no concern from us. You have to get points on the board but I did feel the team were in an alright place.
“You want to win, of course you do, but the defeats I wasn’t too disappointed thinking we’ve got so much work to do.
“We just have to keep the processes we’ve put in place and we’ll be fine for sure.”
Mowbray on Jobe Bellingham
“He was brought to the football club because the people who had seen him at Birmingham had seen him very closely.
“I think he’s a really young boy. We played him the highest player on the pitch really and he had to get in the box, and did get in the box.
“I think we have to be careful to think he’s a star. He’s a young boy who is working really hard who wants to get better and has lots to get better at.
“I think he is a young lad who will be in and out of this team as the season unfolds.
“Let’s see if we can sign some strikers who can put him under pressure to get in the team.
We will keep trying to develop him, keep trying to get him in those positions, to build him. I’m very conscious and I think he’s very conscious, he understands he still has a lot of work to do to become the footballer he wants to be.”
More to come...
That brings us to the end of the broadcast section of the press conference - but Mowbray has also spoken to the written press, including our reporter Phil Smith.
You can find more from the Black Cats boss and build-up to Saturday’s match over on the SAFC section of the Echo website.