Tony Mowbray delivers verdict on Sunderland's win and explains key tactical decisions

Tony Mowbray believes Niall Huggins has put his injury heartache behind him after his match winning display against Watford.

Sunderland were enduring some familiar frustration in the first half against a stubborn visiting side happy to play on the break, but a brilliant individual strike from the full back just before half time broke the game open.

Abdoullah Ba added a second not long after the break as it turned into a relatively comfortable night for Mowbray and his side.

Huggins was excellent defensively, too, underlining his progress on what was his fifth consecutive start.

"I'm delighted for Niall, he's had a tough time with injury in my time here," Mowbray said.

"There have been some really good moments in there for him as well, I can think of Birmingham away last year when he performed very well.

"We can see in training how well he travels with the ball, he weaves in and out of people easily and you saw that for the goal. We did huff and puff a bit in the first half against a strong, powerful team but we got the job done.

"We needed that big of magic, usually it's Clarke or Roberts but tonight it was Niall.

"I'm really pleased for him, I genuinely felt he struggled with the mental side of it with injury after injury. I think he's broken through that now, he's pretty robust and he's ready to go. It's real competition for us, and that's great.

"I was really pleased with the discipline, our centre-backs were amazing. Abdoullah scoring as well, it's good that we're sharing the goals around the pitch.

"We just have to keep going, it was a good performance because they a threat to any team. We watched a lot of football over recent weeks and I'm not sure the results reflected the performances and the individuals they have.

"I'm pleased to be sat here with three points."

Mowbray responded to Alex Pritchard's injury by bringing Abdoullah Ba into the side, moving Patrick Roberts infield as the number ten.

But his other subtle but significant shift was to move Huggins over to the right flank, with Hume playing at left back.

"It was mainly about our rotations and how we were going to get Jobe Bellingham higher up the pitch," Mowbray explained.

"Hume can play as a full back but also as the central midfielder, so we felt that was the way to get Bellingham up the pitch and as a result, get Roberts out to the right where he is so dangerous cutting onto his left foot.

"So we wanted to push Bellingham into the left ten position, and moving Hume was the best way to do it. We knew there would be no issues there, because he has done it in his last couple of international games for Northern Ireland. Niall is naturally right-sided, as well, so we felt it would help the balance of the team."