Sunderland need have 'no fears' about their Championship campaign turning into a relegation struggle - with Tony Mowbray insisting they have no reason to look over their shoulder. After a very positive start that left them in and around the play-off places in the first half of September, injuries to key players - not least strikers Ross Stewart and Ellis Simms, which left them without a centre-forward - have seen the Black Cats slip down to lower midtable.
But Mowbray has seen enough to convince him that Sunderland can hold their own in this league, and with Simms already being eased back into action, and the likes of Stewart, defenders Daniel Ballard and Aji Alese, and Lynden Gooch, due to return after the World Cup break that will interrupt the campaign after the next three games, he is positive about the remainder of the season. "It gives me some confidence, to be honest, to feel that we're going to be fine," said Mowbray of the prospect of those players returning.
"Let's not look over our shoulder. You could talk about us only being a couple of points above the bottom three, but we're also only seven points from the play-offs - the league is just ridiculously tight at the moment.
READ MORE: Tony Mowbray explains the role Edouard Michut needs to take on to get into Sunderland's starting XI
"When I watch us, though, we should have no fears. As long as we keep the belief and the confidence on the ball and creating chances, we're going to win lots of games.
"Whether it's enough games to catch the top teams, we'll have to wait and see but my experience in this league is that you just have to win a few games. You're going to lose some and you're going to win some, and in the end you're in that melee where if you win on the last day you might jump up to eighth or ninth but if you lose then you drop down and finish 15th and you are judged on that.
"I do think we have enough to win football matches, it's just whether we can find a consistent spell. At Blackburn we won eight games on the bounce last year at one point, yet we still finished eighth.
"My point is, the season is so up and down for everybody, not just for us. You've seen that with the likes of Norwich who looked like they might be the team at the top, but then they lost four on the bounce.
"Burnley are on a good run at the moment but who's to say that they won't have a first half like they did against us for a few games and lose football matches - they can do it. If we can find a selection that works for us, with strikers and big centre-halves that can deal with set-plays, then all of a sudden we'll have a team that can move the ball around the pitch with pace and give it to the individuals who can do the damage, get it to the strikers in the box to score the goals, and we'll look pretty daunting against most teams.
"We haven't been able to put that together yet, but I know it's there in the system."
Mowbray has yet to work with Ballard, having taken charge after the ex-Arsenal man suffered a foot injury in August. And only in his first game as head coach - the 3-0 home win against Rotherham - has he been able to call upon both Stewart and Simms.
READ NEXT:
- Sunderland coach Tony Mowbray left wrestling with 'conundrum' over Amad and Patrick Roberts
- Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray explains when Ellis Simms will be ready to start games
- Sunderland issue club statement regarding introduction of fan safety measures
- Elliot Embleton's goal against Luton presses his claim for a start at Huddersfield
- Jack Clarke apologised to Sunderland players after fifth booking rules him out of Huddersfield trip
