Tony Mowbray on why 'changing habits' could be the key to Sunderland succeeding in Ross Stewart's absence

While at Blackburn Rovers Mowbray saw his key striker Ben Brereton Diaz suffer a medium-term injury while in outstanding form and the impact on results was significant, potentially costing his side in their push for a play-off place.

The new Sunderland head coach is nevertheless determined not to use Stewart's injury as an excuse and has vowed to 'find a way' to replace the Scot's goals.

With the arrival of a free agent striker unlikely, that is likely to mean adjusting the game of a number of his players who are most comfortable operating off the central striker.

"It'll come down to how we are going to play," he said.

Ellis has done so well, he needs to be in the team and we needed to play twin strikers.

"It was a threat to every defence in this league in my mind.

"Now, there's no reason why you can't play with one striker and lots of little, clever, players behind him to try and service him but also to try get into the box and score themselves.

"We'll try to find the answer to how we play, and if we win and score lots of goals then we will probably have got it right, if we're struggling to score and playing alright, we will have to try find the answer.

"I hope I'm not going to be sitting here every week and blaming the fact that Ross Stewart isn't playing because we haven't won.

"If I am, I'm sure you'll remind me of that first week when Ross got injured and I said we'd have to find a way - you haven't been able to.

"It's hard to change the habits of a lifetime, particularly for the likes of Pritchard and Roberts who have been doing what they do for a long time.

"They are technical players who shift you off-balance and play passes in around the corner, they are not running and sprinting in behind you and bashing it in the net.

"It's hard to change what they have done throughout their careers, but we have to find a way.

"You stay a football manager because you find a way to win games, generally. If you don't win football matches, you are not a manager for very long.

"We've lost our main goalscoring threat so we have to find a goalscoring threat within what we have got.

"The window isn't open, but I think we have got enough talent in our team and I just need to get into the heads of some of them that they need to play a bit further forward, they need to shoot more, they have to get into the box and run more without the ball which is a bit foreign to some of them because they like to get it, move it, and pass it about.

Stewart is expected to be absent for around six to eight weeks, though it could yet be slightly longer.