Everything Tony Mowbray said about Sunderland's Dubai trip, injuries and Everton striker fitness update

They’re here to get up to speed as quickly as possible. There’s a game coming up on Monday at Newcastle. You can expect some of our first team players who aren’t involved at the weekend to be involved.

A lot of them have things to do and bills to pay as well as playing football. It is not easy for them but we have to give them games so when they get thrown on in the first team it is not a physical struggle for them.

It feels difficult. On the back of back-to-back defeats, it feels like we have to find a way. There’s no easy games. We have to find a way to keep clean sheets. On paper, the next four games look pretty tough.

We have been competitive in the games but we’ve been playing without strikers. We have to keep believing and keep sticking together. The next challenge at Luton is one of a physical nature.

I think it is important for every club to try and connect with their community. It is important because most of the people there were fams of the future. What makes the bond even tighter is a successful team on the football pitch.

There’s not a lot you can do. I can’t turn Roberts or Pritch into bigger players but yet they have to go back and mark bigger players.

There’s a real frustration about it but I do sit here with the comfort that we have four six-foot-three players on their way back.

There is a plan at this football club. We are going to build it instead of throwing millions at it. I remember speaking to Nathan after Blackburn had played them. They want to have an identity and a better quality of footballer now.

They are a real threat to anyone at home. They have taken some big scalps. They have a lot of players with real physical stature. I hope we can give them some poblems.

After the Birmingham game the team will have a week’s break to do what they want. We will then do some warm weather training and spend a week together. It will be important for us to spend some time together to develop some relationships.

We will be training a lot. We could have Stewart, Ballard and Alese available. We will then come back and have a full week to prepare for Millwall.

We are going to go to Dubai. It will be hot but for me it’s more about the bonding. We can watch the World Cup matches together. There will be a benefit alongside the key players coming back to fitness. We can reboot our season.

We expect a tough game. Luton at Luton are different from Luton away from home. Nathan Jones’ teams are always full throttle. You have to be ready for the confrontation.

I played there in the mid 80s. It is a tight intimidating stadium. They play to their strengths. They have upgraded their group of players. We have to be ready for that confrontation. We have to play our game and try and make sure they don’t turn it into their game.

We are not expecting miricles from Simms. But it is good to have him back. I don’t think we will be seeing Goochy or Ross for a while.

Patrick trained today, you have to be careful with hamstring injuries. He might make the bench this weekend. I have to be mindful that there’s a lot of games coming up

Sunderland defender Niall Huggins has opened up on his challenging year of injury setbacks and says it’s brilliant to be playing again.

The 21-year-old joined the Black Cats from Leeds in the summer of 2021 but hasn’t played for the first team since September last year.

“Basically, I had a stress fracture in my back which put me out for the initial long period of time,” Huggins told Sunderland’s website. “I was in a back brace for a while as I recovered from that.

“And then as I tried to come back out on the grass, a similar sort of bone issue occurred. This has happened several times – I had a bone issue on my heel and then my ankle... READ MORE HERE