Tony Mowbray's fascinating insight into Sunderland's top-six prospects - and his strong message to squad

Sunderland's campaign continues to go from strength to strength, the team seemingly improving rather than dropping off as they head into the final third still very much in the play-off mix.

He can see the strength of his individual players and the balance of the side, just as the supporters do.

He also still feels that the depth and the experience in the squads either side of Sunderland could yet prove telling, with his squad one or two injuries away from being left exposed.

And he has also been in the Championship long enough to know the way that form can ebb and flow.

Today’s opponents, for example, were in poor form earlier this season, but will arrive at the Stadium of Light ten games unbeaten.

Mowbray wants his team to ride the wave in terms of confidence and positivity, but not to allow it to become pressure to maintain a position that by rights, they probably shouldn't have in their first campaign back in the second tier.

"Sometimes, the moment you start getting overconfident you get a knock,” Mowbray said before Bristol City's visit.

“So I genuinely just focus on the next game.

“I know it's not what journalists want to hear, but I think the best way in football is to not get carried away if it's going well and not get down if you've gone a few games without winning.

"The only reason I have half an eye on the next games is because of the selection of the players and the team and thinking 'can this player keep going' and 'when do we give him a rest.

“We are in a cycle of midweek games which has got the potential to damage the squad somewhere down the line if we pick up more injuries.

“So, no, I don't sit here thinking: 'Wow we're flying, aren't we great.' I sit here and think we have to work really really hard for everything we get."

Any fear that the departure of Alex Neil would increase Sunderland's chances of becoming embroiled in a battle near the bottom of the table have slowly but surely evaporated as Mowbray has begun to get the best of the squad's obvious individual talent.

Mowbray is relaxed about talk of the top six, saying that it has been a deserved reward for his players to see themselves climbing the Championship table after their hard-fought recent wins.

The message internally has not changed, though. Mowbray has been clear this week that his role is still to focus on developing the team, the players within it, and see where it takes Sunderland after 46 games.

"There's some very talented players and I've said that on record," he said, asked if the level they had reached had surprised him.

"There are players that I've said before I couldn't believe had ended up in League One and the pleasing thing for me coming in has been that they all have the mindset where they want to improve and listen - they want information. I don't say that thinking I'm some sort of guru, I just give them my experience of 40 years in football.

"I think they enjoy being given a licence, I'm constantly telling them that it's their time, not mine. It's their team, they are in control of how hard they work, the passes they pick... I give them direction in terms of are we going round the outside of this team today, are we playing over the top, and cater the training to that. But when the whistle blows they are in control and they all deserve huge credit for the way they have competed. I don't see any reason why they can't continue to compete.

"What I do know is that we have a lot of tough games between now and the end of the season, we've got to go away to a lot of the teams at the top of the division. But we should enjoy those challenges - we should be embracing the fact that there's no pressure on us to stay in that top six from me or the club.

"There might be some from supporters as they get excited [by what we're doing] but what I hope, and hopefully we don't slip out of the top six, and it certainly won't be for a lack of effort or trying to win matches. But where the team has come from, they are punching well above their weight. When I speak to opposition managers after games, I can feel there is a lot of respect for us as a team. Let's keep going, keep trying to find the right answers and see where it takes us.

"These players enjoy playing with the ball, I think," he added.

"Of course your team has to have a balance, you need centre-halves who head the ball out or you're conceding from every set piece. You need midfielders who can win the ball back and create transitions, so you're not one-dimensional.

"The key is to let them enjoy each challenge, and there will always be that natural competitive edge. We are trying to grow that as well. At the moment, they're doing really well."

Mowbray is well aware of the threat Bristol City will pose, with pace on the break aplenty and some talented young technicians.

It is another major test for his side, but one he knows they are capable of standing up to. Doing that fifteen times, with numbers thin and inexperienced all over the pitch, remains for the time being a different question altogether.