Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray explains the key message he's had for his players this week

The Black Cats are looking to bounce back from a disappointing week of three fixtures without a win when Wigan Athletic visit the Stadium of Light on Saturday, though they will again be without Ellis Simms and Ross Stewart. Mowbray's side failed to score in two goalless draws with Preston North End and Blackpool in their two most recent home fixtures, with the head coach admitting that their lack of presence in the six-yard box has caught up with them.

He nevertheless remains confident that his side can find a way to win, and believes even in this short winless run there has been much for his side to be positive about.

Asked about his key messages this week, Mowbray said: "At the moment, I'm trying to get them to feel that we're a pretty good team. If you look at the games... we had a lot of dominance at home and just couldn't quite find the answer, and then we went to Swansea City and in the second half had nearly 70% possession, so many more shots than them in that period.

"I'm trying to give them the positives, keep them believing that we're a good team, but we know that we have to put the ball in the net and finish it off.

"They have to keep going. We're all disappointed we haven't had three points but they have to keep believing that what they're doing is not far away from being very good in this league. If Embleton's goal stands [against Preston] rather than it being called back for a foul, if Jack Clarke's header in the last minute against Blackpool sneaks in, if you get the point we could have had in the end against Swansea, it's five more points and you're nearly at the top of the table. And yeah, every team in the league would have that and be able to say something like that, but it's my job to make the team see how close they are, to keep their belief and confidence high."

Mowbray warned that it would be a tough test for Sunderland against a Wigan Athletic side who have adjusted to life in the Championship superbly after winning League One last year.

"They've got a really experienced team, I watched them against Blackburn," Mowbray said.

"I'm told that they have the best away record in the EFL so far this season, which shows that it is going to be a tough game for us. "It's a similar team to the one that won the league last year, with players like Nathan Broadhead who gives them a slightly different string to their bow. He's very mobile and you add that to the physicality they've got...

"They're doing exceptionally well and so it is another tough game for us. This is a really tight league, if you win a game you can jump six places and if you lose you can drop three places. We're just in there competing at the moment and Saturday will be no different, a tough game against a really experienced side but one we're really looking forward to."