Tony Mowbray has explained his decision to rest Patrick Roberts at Rotherham - insisting playing him every three days will only see him pick up an injury. Roberts was named on the bench at the New York Stadium as one of three changes to the side that drew against Bristol City at the weekend.
And without the ex-Manchester City forward, and with Sunderland also changing formation, Mowbray's men looked out-of-sorts in the first half against relegation strugglers Rotherham, who led at half-time through Ollie Rathbone's strike. They went two down in the second half when Shane Ferguson scored, and while they then halved the deficit as on-loan Leeds United striker Joe Gelhardt scored his first goal for the club, it was not until Mowbray then made a triple substitution - which included bringing on Roberts - that Sunderland began to look more like their usual selves going forward.
But with Sunderland playing virtually every three days at present, Mowbray is conscious that he cannot keep on asking Roberts to start games. "Otherwise [if I do], these players are going to get injured," said Mowbray.
READ MORE: Formation change took away Sunderland's fluency admits boss Tony Mowbray
"They are not robots. We've been playing every three days and that would have been seven games for Patrick, I think. If you're playing effectively every three days, you have to give them a breather. And yet you see the impact of a player of his talent when he comes on the pitch."
Defeat ended Sunderland's five-game unbeaten run in the Championship, and they slipped to eighth in the table - a point outside the play-off spots. But, while Mowbray was not happy with the performance or the 2-1 defeat against a Rotherham side fighting the drop, he is staying calm.
He said: "We hadn't lost away from home since October 18 so it's not a problem for us, it's fine. We don't like getting beat, we came to Rotherham who had only won one in their last 13 [in all competitions] and we shouldn't be losing here, and yet we did so we go away frustrated.
"I try to heighten my players' emotions before every game about what is coming. I think we can give every team in the league problems, but Rotherham - with the way they play - they can make a football match of every game because they play against the ball very well, they work really hard and they are very committed.
"Ultimately, if you want to be a top team, you have to overcome that."
READ NEXT:
Sunderland player ratings as Joe Gelhardt stands out in poor performance at Rotherham
Sunderland play-off hopes suffer knock after defeat at Rotherham despite Joe Gelhardt goal
- Tony Mowbray determined to keep expectations in check as Sunderland continue to soar
- Sunderland are heading to the USA for pre-season as Kristjaan Speakman explains reasons behind trip
- Joe Gelhardt will score goals for Sunderland insists Tony Mowbray as he highlights all-round role
