Tony Mowbray reveals the key role he played in Stuart Harvey's move to key Sunderland position

Mowbray worked closely with Harvey when the pair were at Blackburn Rovers, with Harvey rising through the ranks before being headhunted by Sunderland in what was one of Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman's earliest and most crucial appointments.

Sunderland's new head coach said he made clear to Harvey at the time that it was an opportunity he didn't feel he could turn down.

"Stuart I think had his reservations [about moving initially] because I think he liked working with me and Mark [Venus]," Mowbray said.

"He actually lived with us in an apartment, it was like three old stooges to be honest! I persuaded him that he should make the move to Sunderland. We are so close and he is so good at what he does, the work ethic and detail is so intense. But when an opportunity like that came around..

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"We had an amazing time at Blackburn but I likened it to a huge tanker coming flying along, Sunderland can be anything can't it, it's a juggernaut coming along the highway of the Championship.

"If we get it right and we can grow it in the right way, it's very difficult to stop a club like this with 40,000 supporters. It has an opportunity and that's why I told Stuart he had to take the chance.

"It might take time, we're a juggernaut rather than a racing car I think, but we will get there if all the processes are right."

Mowbray was a guest of Harvey at the Stadium of Light earlier this season.