Sunderland boss reveals interesting Jenson Seelt plan in verdict on defender's debut

Tony Mowbray has praised Jenson Seelt for coming through his full debut at the club and says there could be a route to more game time for the youngster despite the imminent return of Dan Ballard and Luke O'Nien.

Ballard and O'Nien were both suspended for the 3-1 win over Birmingham City, forcing Mowbray to turn to Seelt and fellow summer signing Nectar Triantis.

It was Seelt's first start for the club after the opening months of his Wearside career were impacted by an ankle problem.

The former PSV youngster showed his quality on the ball at times and came through the challenge of a very aggressive Birmingham City press.

While Ballard and O'Nien are certain to reclaim their places after the international break, Mowbray has revealed that Seelt may well come into his thinking in other positions as well as central defence.

"I thought Jenson was good," Mowbray said.

"In our minds, we've been wanting to get him on the pitch but it's difficult [with Ballard and O'Nien's form].

"Really, he was going to come on and play.. he can play holding midfield and we thought he would come on and roll into midfield like we do with Trai Hume often. Jenson can do that because he's so talented with the ball at his feet. Today he stood up to the test, you could see at times that it was a bit quick when they really jumped on us and pressed, there were times when it was a fraction of a second away from us being caught on the ball.

"Generally, he was good. Young players who haven't played at the level, you expect it [some challenged]. They have to get up to speed and I'm so pleased for both Jenson and Nectar that they helped us get to the win and both looked fine generally. I asked the team to get right on the front foot so that the defenders didn't have to do too much, but we got a bit sloppy on the ball at times and so the defenders had to do their jobs. Generally, they did that."

Mowbray confirmed that Dennis Cirkin would undergo a scan on Sunday after being forced to withdraw during the warm up with a hamstring issue.