Sunderland manager Tony Mowbray has heaped praise on Joe Gelhardt after his impressive showing against Bristol City. Despite only playing one hour, the Leeds United loanee set up Jack Clarke for the Black Cats’ opener.
Gelhardt has been thrown into the deep end at the Stadium of Light due to Ross Stewart’s season-ending injury. Sunderland’s top goalscorer ruptured his Achilles during an FA Cup clash with Fulham last month - meaning Gelhardt must step up.
The 20-year-old has big shoes to fill and is enjoying the prospect of first-team football at Championship level. While he is yet to score in four appearances, Mowbray believes a purple patch is right around the corner.
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The Sunderland boss hailed Gelhardt following the 1-1 draw with the Robins. Mowbray said: "I see it in training every day, he is a wonderful player. (He is) really tight with the ball, has really strong hips and a strong body. He can roll people.
“It's difficult for him to get any real training because the games have been every three days so you're recovering, travelling, playing, recovering, travelling, playing. You're not doing much organisational shape on your team.
"We've basically just brought him in and stuck him up front. It's not a work in progress because we haven't got time to do work! It has been the same for the last three weeks or so. It's been difficult to integrate him because we haven't been able to do the work we would have probably liked to.
“But he gets into the right areas and he has a wonderful left foot. He just needs to get the first one (goal) and I'm sure they will start flowing for him."
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