The message Tony Mowbray had for his Sunderland squad after his first defeat as head coach

Mowbray had named an unchanged XI for the first two games of his tenure, having been hugely impressed with the performances that predated his arrival.

However, a thigh injury to Ross Stewart minutes before kick-off at Middlesbrough meant a late change and though the full extent of the damage is not yet known, he is not expected to be involved when Millwall visit the Stadium of Light.

Mowbray's problems deepened when Dennis Cirkin had to be replaced in the latter stages of the 1-0 defeat due to a hamstring issue.

With difficult away trips to Reading and Watford following the clash with Millwall, Mowbray knows he will need to call upon all of his options.

"Players like Bailey Wright are so important because in this division, if Danny [Batth] needs a breather or if Dennis Cirkin is injured, we will need him," Mowbray said.

"It's frustrating to pick up a few injuries because it's been a pretty settled team since the start of the season. I decided to come in and not touch much because having watched the Norwich game, I thought they were really good for 70 minutes against a top team. There was no need for me to put a stamp on it because it was already performing at a high level, but as injuries come along and the demands of the schedule catch up with them... I've just said to the group there that they all need to be ready, they've all got to listen and be ready to impact the team.

"I'm sure they will, they look to me as if they're all hungry. They look you in the eye, they listen, I've been in dressing rooms before where that is not the case as every football manager has.

"They're a good set of lads and we need to get the best out of them."

Mowbray is waiting for the right moment to introduce Edouard Michut, Abdoullah Ba and Jewison Bennette, conscious of the need to allow the youngsters time to acclimatise and in the case of Michut, build match fitness.

The head coach is confident that his side have shown they can be competitive over the long term despite the disappointment of his first defeat.

"We have to get this club back to the point where it's ultra-competitive and people expect us to be thinking about promotion and being in the top six," he said.

"That's the plan, to build the club incrementally, step-by-step to get us back to where we believe and the supporters want us to be.

"There's different ways to do that, you can build a team with young players and give them belief and they grow, they help the team because they're athletic and robust and keep going, and that's the plan.

"I saw a lot of good signs against Middlesbrough, a good experienced team who were probably hurting because they haven't got as many points as they'd have liked."