Sunderland boss drops hint about Leeds United striker

Pushing Abdoullah Ba up alongside Joe Gelhardt produced instant reward when the Frenchman scored an early goal from range, and though Gelhardt missed a big chance to double the lead soon after, his all-round play was encouraging.

Mowbray had publicly backed the Leeds United loanee in his pre-match press conference and confirmed that he would not take him out of the XI, and was rewarded with one of his best displays yet.

"I see him every day in training - if he was falling short he wouldn't be in the team, I wouldn't play him," Mowbray said ahead of Sheffield United's visit.

"Just because he's on loan from Leeds United, he doesn't have to play.

"His performance level is what gets him in the team and what gets him in at the moment is his work ethic allied with the talent I see.

"He just has to find that confidence and belief [in front of goal] and sometimes the best way to do that is by working through it.

"If the tough period becomes a real burden to him I'll take him out, but at this moment I think he's still got real belief that he can score goals and he's working really hard - he's helping the team.

"Let's keep going with him and let's hope he can nick a goal or two, he's here to help the team and help us create a balance.

"He's very different to Ross Stewart, they're different footballers but he's working really hard and we're very glad he's here.

"The work he gets through and the [running] numbers he puts up are really high, he's got to keep that up and the opportunities he needs to score will come."

As for Ba, Mowbray says the youngster faces big competition for his place in the short-term and has urged him to take his opportunity.

"There's a really good footballer in there," he said of his progress.

"The communication side of things to begin with was tough, getting across where we want him to be and what his job is in and out of possession.

"It's been a challenge and yet there's real talent there. He's competing against good, technical players because his position really is higher up the pitch.

"I think he has to try and fill the boots of Amad somewhere down the line, I'm not saying he's going to play there all the time but the opportunity is going to be there.

"I do feel there's aspects of his game that we talk a lot about, when to play it simple and when to do what he does, dribble and beat people and eliminate the opposition.

"I think four, five months down the line he'll be a much more rounded footballer. It's down to him, if he keeps scoring goals he's going to be a stick on [to play] for the rest of the season - but Amad could be fit on Saturday and Pritchard will be chomping at the bit, that's football."