Tony Mowbray explains his decision to take Hemir out of the Sunderland team in Preston defeat

Tony Mowbray said he was happy with his Sunderland gameplan against Preston after opting to give Bradley Dack his first start up front.

Hemir dropped to the bench as a result but Sunderland's attacking frustration continued as they failed to capitalise on much of their good play as they fell to a 2-1 defeat.

Mowbray has previously said that Hemir can't be expected to start every game as he adjusts to a new division, and suggested that he felt this was one that wouldn't suit him at his point in his development.

"We came here at the end of last season, dominated the ball and created some excellent opportunities," Mowbray said.

"We just felt that against the way they play, we didn't need to put a big centre forward up the middle to be marked by three big centre halves. We thought we'd play with the ball and get more of the ball with more players in the middle of the pitch, work it out wide and then those players try and get into the box.

"I think the gameplan was fine, I think we dominated proceeding on the whole. Teams are allowed to shoot, attack your goal, and yet it's hard to understand how they've scored two with the control we've had the vast majority of the time.

"We have to accept it and keep working on what we do, and hopefully by next weekend we'll have a bit of help. Let's see if someone if can come in and make a name for themselves at this football club.

"We drove into the box about a dozen times today, but I think Patrick was the only to get into a position to get a shot away. He was the one who found a bit of space and the keeper made a save.

"We've got to keep doing the right things and if we do that, we'll win plenty of games. We shouldn't be overly concerned at the club, there's plenty of positives about the team but we know we will be judged on results."

Mowbray spoke at length through the pre-season period about the physical demands Hemir was adjusting to, having feature little at Benfica through the second half of last season.

And in his pre-match press conference on Friday, the head coach spoke at length about how he needed to protect the youngster as he adjusts to a new country and a new league.

“He’s quite a humble kid," Mowbray had said on Friday.

"He understands he’s come to a new country and is acclimatising.

“Things we all take for granted like driving a car or something, where to go to eat, where’s the supermarket?

“All these things he’s trying to adjust to, all them little things, bank accounts, while we’re expecting him to bang some goals in for the team.

“The staff, we are all pleased with his quality and his talent and I think he just has to acclimatise to the environment.

“When you play for our team you have to work hard, you have to run off the ball when you are playing up front

“It’s just a different culture from where he’s come from and I think it will take maybe a few months to mould him into the centre-forward we want him to be. He undoubtedly has the talent.

“He agrees he needs to get his fitness levels up and we’ll be trying to do that as well as giving him game time."