Tony Mowbray hopes that leaving Amad out of Sunderland's starting XI at QPR will see him 're-energised' when he returns to the side - insisting the on-loan Manchester United forward is not a 'robot' who can perform for 90 minutes every week. Amad has been one of the stars of the season for the Black Cats, but Mowbray is conscious of the physical and mental demands on the 20-year-old.
Prior to the midweek game at Loftus Road, Amad had started Sunderland's last 18 games in a row - and had completed the full 90 minutes in 12 of those - and that led to Mowbray opting to rest him against QPR, a matter of days after he had taken him off two-thirds of the way through in the home win against Reading. Sunderland won 3-0 at QPR even without Amad starting, and he is likely to return to the side for Saturday's home game against Bristol City.
"It was important [to rest Amad]," said Mowbray. "He is not a robot, he needs to re-energise mentally as well as physically.
