Tony Mowbray insists Sunderland's win at Norwich City should not be seen as a shock result as the Black Cats proved they are still in the play-off race. The Wearsiders halted a three-game losing streak - part of a run that had seen them pick up just a single point from four outings - as they beat top six hopefuls Norwich 1-0 at Carrow Road at the weekend.
That victory lifted Sunderland to tenth in the table and cut the gap between themselves and the play--off spots to five points with ten games remaining, Norwich, who are three points ahead of Sunderland in seventh place, are seen as genuine play-off contenders as they look to bounce straight back to the Premier League following relegation last term, while the Black Cats are outside bets having won promotion from League One last season.
But Sunderland were the better side against the Canaries and Mowbray says they fully deserved their win. He said: "Somebody said to me that it was a surprising result. Was it?
READ MORE: Sunderland's performance at Norwich provides perfect response after Stoke City humbling
"We had 72 percent possession at Coventry, we had more shots, more efforts on goal, more efforts on target, and got beat 2-1; at Rotherham we could have won 3-1 or 4-1 but got beat 2-1. If we'd won both of those, we would have been right up there [in the top six].
"We hadn't lost an away game since October [until losing at Rotherham], so is it [winning at Norwich] a shock? I don't think it is a shock to have won at Norwich.
"We went to Fulham [in the FA Cup] who were sixth in the Premier League at the time and drew 1-1."
While Sunderland are back in the play-off race, Mowbray is refusing to get carried away. He said: "I'm happy, not just because we won but with the performance.
"I'm not sitting here thinking 'oh, we can get in the play-offs' - what I know is that we are not looking over our shoulder and worrying that we are going to get dragged into a relegation scrap. We've got 52 points and I'm not sure many clubs have been relegated with 52 points.
"We've got ten games to go, we have to go and win five or six of them and see where it takes us."
READ NEXT:
- Dan Neil has Premier League potential and Tony Mowbray wants him to realise it with Sunderland
- Norwich boss David Wagner admits his side deserved to lose after Sunderland's win at Carrow Road
- Tony Mowbray sets out possible timescale for Amad and Alex Pritchard to return following Norwich win
- Sunderland player ratings as defenders excel in fine win at play-off rivals Norwich City
- Abdoullah Ba strikes as Sunderland rejoin play-off battle with victory at Norwich City
