Tony Mowbray offers brief update on when Ross Stewart could be back in Sunderland action

Tony Mowbray is expecting Ross Stewart to miss a significant chunk of the Championship season as he continues his recovery from an achilles problem.

Stewart has been absent since January after suffering the setback in an FA Cup tie against Fulham, and has been stepping up his comeback at the Academy of Light over the summer months.

The striker still has work to do before he can join full training and make a comeback, however, and Mowbray offered a brief update after an open training session at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday.

The timescale is not definitive, but indicates roughly how long the Black Cats feel they will be without their talismanic striker.“I had a conversation with him [Stewart] this morning, and he said late September," Mowbray said.

"Now, that’s him saying that, not the physios, but I’m sure he’s had discussions with the physios about it.

“Generally, when they’re not available to play for me, I don’t spend too much time trying to hurry them back. We focus on the players that we’ve got available. But I did see him this morning, and he suggested to me the end of September. That’s when I think he said that he hoped to be back on the grass training and fit to play. So, we’ll see.”

The news underlines Sunderland's need to add further reinforcements up front, with Hemir currently the only recognised striker fit and available at the club. Mowbray says the club are pushing hard to recruit further.