Sunderland boss confirms major selection decision - and drops big hint on another

Tony Mowbray has confirmed that Jenson Seelt will make his full Sunderland debut on Saturday, and has hinted that he will look to help him by naming as experienced a backline as he possibly can around him.

Mowbray's plans for the clash with Birmingham City have been shaped significantly by a major selection dilemma at the heart of his defence. Dan Ballard and Luke O'Nien have played together in every single Championship fixture so far this season, but both are suspended after picking up their fifth yellow card of the campaign in the 0-0 draw with Swansea City.

Seelt, who signed from PSV in the summer but saw his progress initially slowed by an ankle problem, has made two league appearances from the bench and the head coach has confirmed that he will not step into the starting XI as expected.

The dilemma for Mowbray is whether he also hands a full debut to fellow summer signing Nectar Triantis, or looks to bring either Trai Hume or Dennis Cirkin into the centre of defence.

Though not wanting to give his team away entirely, the Sunderland head coach has hinted that he will likely go with the latter.

He says the team have been working on a 'few tweaks' on the training ground this week to ease the transition and is confident that there should not be too much disruption to the way his team plays.

He expects a talented Birmingham side to cause problems all the same, with Fulham loanee Jay Stansfield in good form for Wayne Rooney's side.

"I think the way we play, on my board and on the training ground, it looks fine to me," Mowbray said.

"There's enough experience there, there's enough nous, there's enough mobility.

"I'm hoping Jenson will be OK.

"He's going to be nervous, as I always say when somebody potentially makes their debut, you have to make it easy for them, you have to feel for your teammate and make that job comfortable.

"I think the players around him are experienced enough and will do that, so hopefully we don't even notice him and we get a clean sheet and we win the game and everybody is happy.

"I think one of them [either Triantis or Seelt] has to come and play in the team," he added.

"There's no two ways around that unless we want to change the whole formation and the way we play, which is something we have discussed and there are going to be some slight tweaks. We've had a few days to work with the team and tell them what their responsibilities are when the ball is in certain positions.

"I have every confidence that we will go out there and we will flow."

Mowbray also confirmed in his pre-match press conference that in Luke O'Nien's absence, Dan Neil is likely to wear the captain's armband for the game.

The head coach praised Neil for his progress on the pitch but also for his developing leadership skills in a young squad.