'Keep going': The telling Tony Mowbray prediction that came true for Sunderland on a brilliant afternoon

He was sitting in the Blackburn Rovers press conference room he knew so well at the time, ruminating on a 2-0 defeat he didn't feel his side had deserved. He metaphorically drew a circle on his calendar, saying he would relish the chance for another go when he had his key partnership fit.

The irony of this result had been that the difference had been the superb Ben Brereton-Diaz, a striker Mowbray had invested so much time and belief in during his time in the North West.

Those remarks would prove prescient, with Stewart and Simms in the squad it was a 2-1 win and a goal for both. Lost on no one was that Simms' late goal came following a crunching challenge from Daniel Ballard, a player whose attributes Mowbray so regularly spoke of being desperate to inject into the team.

There was little difference between this performance and the one at Ewood Park in October, in both Sunderland played pretty well but this is a sport settled by fine margins in both boxes. Mowbray's side have finally been able to get depth and power in both and the overwhelming feeling on Wearside at the end of this was one of possibility and anticipation.

Nearly 44,000 packed into the Stadium of Light and were at times treated to some excellent football; Mowbray was bold in selecting Amad and Patrick Roberts together and their interplay was delightful. Mowbray was bold again in rolling the dice late on to pair Simms up with Stewart and in the closing moments he got his reward.

Neither the Sunderland head coach, his players or any of the supporters watching on would be getting carried away, of course. This was a tight game with little between the two even if the hosts did on balance deserve their victory. Those three points came at a cost, with Lynden Gooch and Dennis Cirkin joining Aji Alese in the injury room. With two away games on the horizon defensive options are depleted, and Mowbray knows additionally that he will have to be very careful with both Stewart and Ballard - who he had planned to withdraw midway through the second half.

An inexperienced squad at the level will inevitably be prone to spells of bad form as well as the good, something which Mowbray has been keen to warn of from the moment he replaced Alex Neil in the dugout.

Sometimes, though, you just have to enjoy what is in front of you. Far from the finished article they maybe but Sunderland played on the front foot whenever possible, moved themselves to within a point of the play-off places and did so by almost lifting the roof off the Stadium of Light with a late winner. And from a set piece, too.

Just for a moment that solid platform at the halfway stage feels as if it could be something just a little bit more.