Sunderland boss explains how his side are developing this season - and why a striker is so important

Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray believes his side have shown signs of progress despite a mixed start to the season in terms of results, and believes the addition of a centre forward is crucial to realising that potential.

The Black Cats got on the board at the third time of asking with a comeback win against Rotherham United on Saturday, as Jobe Bellingham scored an impressive brace to secure a 2-1 win.

Afterwards Mowbray repeated his belief that there had been a lot of positives in the opening two defeats that preceded it, and that his side have shown signs of how they're trying to develop their style of play this season.

Mowbray was particularly pleased that his players held their nerve even after falling behind in the game.

"I think the mood has been good," Mowbray said.

"After each game I tell the players what I think and if I think the performance is poor and nowhere near the levels, they get told.

"Generally, we've been pretty positive about what we've done, the possession we've had, the chances we've created and how we've tried to build. We've tried to be brave and strong with them in encouraging them to keep doing that, even at 1-0 down you have to still try and control the game, try and get the ball through and not just knock long balls up and hope it will drop for us.

"Somewhere down the line, I hopefully won't be asking for patience with this team. We're trying to play a brand of football where we dominate the ball in most games, even though there'll be some where that's not the case and our next home game against Southampton might be one of those. We knew against Rotherham we'd have more of the ball and it was about breaking them down, getting shots away, getting in behind them - which we probably did even more often against Preston.

"It's just a process, I think," he added.

"We're trying to control the game on most occasions, and then it's about seeing whether teams are going to press or sit off in a block. That's why ultimately you need some mobility at the top end because if people are sitting in a midblock and your centre-half doesn't think they can get through the lines, sometimes you have to go over the top with some speed and some threat. At the moment that's what's missing from this team, because that's not really Hemir or Dack's game. Jobe has that powerful running action that can pressure people, of course, but it's not necessarily speed.

"If we can get a striker in who wants to run in behind and wants to stretch them, it'll give us more space us to play in - that'll help us create more chances and win more games."

Mowbray had expressed a hope that the arrival of a new striker was imminent after the game on Saturday, and that he'd have the chance to work with the planned loanee for a few days before this weekend's visit to Coventry City.

Any new arrival would have to be registered by Friday lunchtime to be eligible to feature in the game.