Tony Mowbray outlines his key Jobe Bellingham challenge - and a key Sunderland weakness he'll help address

Tony Mowbray is enthused by Jobe Bellingham's initial impact at Sunderland but admits it will be a process to find him a settled role in the team.

Bellingham made his first appearance in a Sunderland shirt at Gateshead last weekend and Mowbray is enthused by the technical ability and athleticism he will bring to the group.

All of Sunderland's new summer signings so far stand at above 6ft, addressing a key weakness in the squad from spells across last season.

With Jay Matete back from a loan spell at Plymouth, Mowbray is relishing the competition for places in midfield.

"Jobe is an interesting character, he's very driven, even in the dressing room after the game he's saying 'I need to be better at this, I need to do this better'," Mowbray said.

"He's demanding on himself and as such a young boy he just has to filter into our football club and find his way in the dressing room and grow really.

"He hasn't played a lot of men's football. We have to find out whether he's going to be a running 8, a 10, whether he'll play a bit deeper and play 6, we'll find that out over the longevity of his games and training programme. We're just happy to see him on the pitch. He adds a bit of physicality even though he's very, very young.

"If you put Jobe in your team and Hemir, there's two 6ft 3 footballers. That's something which we fell a bit short on at the end of the season, the physicality in the team.

"Pierre needs to keep pushing on, keep developing," Mowbray added.

"Today there are aspects of his game that I'm talking to him about, he has to keep the intensity of his football up because he was really good at the end of the season, not to slip back into old habits because I spent so much time moaning at him to run and tackle and get tight. He just has to get back up to speed.

"Dan Neil grew into the game at Gateshead and looked quite strong running with the ball late in the game."