Tony Mowbray will give his Sunderland squad Christmas Day off - insisting experience has shown him that players repay the gesture 'in spades' when the Boxing Day fixtures come around. The Black Cats face Mowbray's former club Blackburn Rovers on Boxing Day in a lunchtime kick-off at the Stadium of Light, with the game shown live on Sky.
Traditionally, players reported for a light training session on Christmas Day ahead of the Boxing Day fixtures, but Mowbray is not a fan of that approach and instead prefers to let his teams stay at home with their families. Sunderland have already completed the majority of their preparations for Monday's game against Rovers and will put the finishing touches to it tomorrow, Christmas Eve, before taking the day off and returning on matchday.
"We won't be training on Christmas Day," said Mowbray. "It's not to the detriment of the football club, I've always felt that family comes first and then football.
