Tony Mowbray reveals what he has found 'tough' at Sunderland amid injury problems

The likes of Dan Ballard, Aji Alese, Edouard Michut, Lynden Gooch and Ross Stewart have all been sidelined with injury, with the hope that they will return after the upcoming three-week World Cup break.

Sunderland travelled to Birmingham City on Friday night before a three-week Championship break in fixtures. Sunderland then host Millwall on Saturday, December 3.

Speaking ahead of the Friday night game, Mowbray said: “What happens sometimes in football is that somebody gets fit and somebody else gets injured. It’s just part of football life.

“We are trying to deal with these injuries at the moment and that is probably where the inconsistency has come.

“I hope there is a consistency of selection moving forward in the second half of the season because everybody stays fit for every game and I can pick a team that consistently wins.

“For me, it’s been tough. In management, you want to win and yet the model of our club is to create an identity and develop young players. Somewhere in the middle of all of that, you have to win.

“The manager has to win. It’s okay to have a cultural scenario of how we are going to do it but at the end of the day you have to win football matches. For the supporters who really love and care about the club and spend their hard earned money, there is a balance to be had there.

“I’m trying to understand the difference between development and winning and it’s a difficult task. With the depletion of the squad list and the injuries we’ve had, I enjoy the challenge.

“What I don’t enjoy is the feeling of defeat on the night of a game or the next morning when you wake up and your stomach is twisted. You haven’t slept because you keep thinking about what you could have done different but that is the world of a football coach,” added the Sunderland boss.