Tony Mowbray started Leon Dajaku up front at Luton because he felt he was 'letting Jack Clarke down' by playing him through the middle. The Black Cats have been without a fit centre-forward since the middle of September while Ross Stewart and Ellis Simms have been out of action, and recently Mowbray has opted to play Clarke - who is naturally a left-winger - in that central area as a stopgap solution.
But he feels that Clarke has more to offer out wide, saying he is an 'eight or nine out of ten' as a winger, but only a 'six out of ten' as a centre-forward. To make that change and restore Clarke to his preferred position, Mowbray brought in Dajaku, who is also a winger by trade, for his first start of the season in yesterday's 1-1 draw at Kenilworth Road.
"I brought him [Dajaku] in because we needed legs to get them [Luton] off our backs, if that makes sense," said Mowbray. They are a team that push you down, press you down, and with total respect to Pat [Roberts], he can't run in behind - there's only really Jack that can do that if I put him through the middle.
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"And I feel that I'm letting Jack down a bit by playing him through the middle because he's an eight or a nine out of ten when he plays left wing, but maybe a six out of ten as a centre-forward, so let's get our nine out of ten left winger back and play someone else through the middle and ask him to run in behind when the chances come. It's not natural for him, he doesn't really like playing with his back to goal."
There was good news for Mowbray, though, as Simms made his return from the toe injury that has kept him out since mid-September, playing the final 20 minutes of the match, meaning he is now working his way back to full fitness and soon there may be no need to play players out of position.
Dajaku started the game on the right flank, with Amad playing through the middle, but the pair soon switched positions and the German U20 international hit the post in the first half. After the match, Mowbray addressed Dajaku's lack of gametime this season, having made just a handful of substitute appearances before the Luton match.
Mowbray said: "I started him off on the right, to be honest, with Amad playing a bit deeper down the middle but then you could see how Amad wants to get the ball wide. He [Dajaku] did alright. I've told him what he needs to do - he needs to be a bit braver, fight more, use his head, and to stop looking for the challenges and the contact.
"He knows, and as long as I tell him and there's an honesty about him. He knows why he is not getting picked, and he has things to work on.
"If he does that, then he'll play. As I keep saying, there are no favourites.
"Players just have to work hard and do their jobs. Players have to earn the right to be in the team."
Sunderland fell behind on the stroke of half-time to Carlton Morris' strike, but subs Elliot Embleton levelled for with just over 10 minutes remaining. The Black Cats are next in action on Wednesday night, when they travel to Huddersfield Town.
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