Tony Mowbray's interesting insight into his short and long-term plans for Abdoullah Ba at Sunderland

The 19-year-old has shown his exciting talent in 20 appearances across all competitions so far this season, though the majority of those have come from the bench.Ba last started against QPR in a surprise left-wing role, and impressed for large parts of the game.

It was a reflection of the fact that Mowbray sees him more of an attacking player than a more orthodox central midfielder, though he has of course played there at times.

It means that Ba is competing primarily with Amad for a place in most starting XIs, something that is going to mean a patient wait.

The Sunderland head coach is pleased, though, with the way so many of his young and inexperienced players are making strong contributions from the bench.

“I think Abdoullah is an attacking player, really,” said Mowbray.

“He wants to dribble with the ball and carry it forward.

“With the way we’re playing at the moment, he’s really competing with Amad to try to play in the team, and unfortunately for him, Amad is a pretty special player.

“Abdoullah wants to play, and we’ve had some conversations, but we’re trying to win some football matches as well as develop players.

"Generally, I make substitutions because these young players need to feel the atmosphere,” he added.

“They need to feel it. If we keep collapsing and conceding late goals as we make substitutions, then I’ll be rethinking it, but at the moment, that’s not the case.

“These young lads come on and do a pretty solid job. I have to get the confidence to start them a bit more, but if they get dropped back out, like Abdoullah, who played against QPR but then dropped back out, it’s because I’m looking at the games and seeing which ones will benefit and develop them, but then also being mindful of not hurting the team.”

Mowbray is set to rotate his side significantly again at Rotherham on Tuesday night, including a defensive reshuffle as he guards against fatigue amid a hectic schedule.