Tony Mowbray has this strong warning for Sunderland ahead of Championship return at QPR

Tony Mowbray has warned Sunderland that they are facing an altogether different test when they travel to QPR on Saturday, and that they cannot afford to rest on their laurels after the 5-0 win over Southampton.

Gareth Ainsworth's side started the campaign with a 4-0 defeat to Watford, having narrowly avoided the drop last season.

That was a steep decline from their position as one of the early pacesetters in the division under Michael Beale, but there have been strong signs of improvement in recent weeks.

After beating Cardiff City they were unfortunate to lose narrowly against Ipswich Town and Southampton, before securing an impressive result away at Middlesbrough just before the international break.

Mowbray is expecting a tough test away from home and an entirely differently style of game, adding that it underlines why the Championship is such a challenging division.

Sunderland travel full of confidence but the head coach says that cannot become complacency.

"QPR won 2-0 at Middlesbrough in their last game, which I think was a great result for them," Mowbray said.

"I think we have to be mindful of the threats that they carry, we've been watching them this week and they have players like Ilias Chair, who is a wonderful talent. Andre Dozzell scored a goal against Middlesbrough that might not be topped this season by any player. Sinclair Armstrong up front, everyone I speak to, my wife is from Ipswich and everyone who saw their game the other week said, 'what a player he is'. They've got threats, they're playing at home and they will have a raucous crowd behind them.

"We have to go and try and impose ourselves and be very respectful of how hard they're going to work and how organised they are.

Gareth Ainsworth's teams, we know from his time at Wycombe, they give everyone a game because of the work ethic he instills.

"We're playing against a totally different football team to Southampton, every team has totally different strengths and weaknesses.

"QPR don't play as many passes in their own half as Southampton do, so we have to play a totally different way.

"I think this is why the Championship is such a difficult league. You have to be adaptable and flexible, we're not anticipating QPR playing anything like Southampton did."

With signs that Ainsworth is beginning to get a tune from his players, Mowbray says there is a risk of teams underestimating the threat they pose.

"I think so, there's a huge amount of stock in getting players to buy in," Mowbray said.

They've got highly-talented individuals who can damage any team in this league. It's a tight ground, fairly similar to what you get at Luton Town, the crowd are right there on top of you.

"It's a difficult place to go, we got a positive result there last year and so we have to go and try and impose ourselves. We are very wary of their threats and their organisation, and we have to be at our best."