Tony Mowbray wants to instil in Aji Alese the belief he should be a first-team regular at Sunderland. Summer signing from West Ham Alese made a slow start to his time on Wearside with just a couple of brief substitute outings and a start in the Carabao Cup, but has come into his own in the lead-up to the international break after stepping into the gap left by the injured Dennis Cirkin.
Alese impressed in the 3-0 win at Reading on his first Championship start, and the defender followed that with his first senior goal in the 2-2 draw at Watford ten days ago. Mowbray likes what he has seen so far and says the 21-year-old will only get better as he gains more experience.
"Aji wasn't a player I knew well, someone who had been around the West Ham United U23 side and the first team a bit," said Mowbray. "Around the training ground he's a nice, big guy, he's not one of the louder characters.
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