Tony Mowbray's honest verdict on Sunderland progress ahead of Norwich City clash

Tony Mowbray says his Sunderland side have shown that they can compete with anyone in the Championship, but admits that their inexperience means there are inevitably going to be hurdles along the way.

Sunderland have lost their last three Championship fixtures but impressed in a narrow defeat to runaway leaders Leicester City on Tuesday night.

In his pre-match press conference ahead of Norwich City's visit Mowbray made plain his belief that this side's recent results will turn, and that they will be competing at the top end of the table by the end of the season. He says ups and downs along the way are nevertheless inevitable.

"I had no fear about going to Leicester with our team, we went to try and win the match and I think we had a decent go of it, and yet we missed some decent chances and they had some opportunities as well," he explained. I thought it was a good game of football between two decent teams.

"I think what's important is that when you go and play those teams, is that you're not swamped and they're just miles better. I think we gave them lots of problems and asked a lot of questions, and showed we could compete. Whether we're playing a very physical team who can compete because they can score three headers from corners, or the team with the most possession in the league, we have to find a way to compete and I think we do. It doesn't mean we'll win, we have to adjust how we do things in certain games and generally it's a learning curve for young players to learn how you play against these different teams.

"We've lost a few games, and the below-par performance at Stoke... we had seventeen shots at their goal and they scored from a handball and a corner kick. I'd be much more fearful if I felt that there were teams out there that were just too good, too clever for us and would beat us eight or nine times out of ten.

"I sit here with confidence that we can go anywhere and win, and yet also knowing that this is the Championship and we can lose football matches. We have inexperienced footballers and we're teaching them how to play, when to play fast and slow, when to be direct and when to take risks and invite teams onto us. They either take it on really fast and we become a wonderful team, or we suffer a little on the way.

"The day we leave, you'll have a team that understands football better than when we arrived in my opinion." While Norwich City are themselves in poor form with just one win in their last five, Mowbray insists they will pose a significant challenge to his side.

"Norwich are a team with a lot of experienced players if you think about (Shane) Duffy, (Ben) Gibson, and (Kenny) McLean," he said.

"They have international players and they have been competing in the Premier League in recent years. They also have a coach who has been promoted out of this league before, so it's a tough game for us. Norwich was the game before I came in last year. They won 1-0. We are expecting a really tough game.”