Tony Mowbray's feet barely touched the ground when he first arrived at Sunderland. He walked into a club still reeling from the departure of Alex Neil, a head coach who had been feted as a hero by fans after he finally led the Black Cats out of the League One wilderness, only to be regarded as a turncoat when he left to take over at Stoke City just six games in to the new Championship season.
Appointed on August 30, Mowbray had no time to have a say on Sunderland's incoming transfer business. Less than 24 hours later, he oversaw a convincing 3-0 home win against Rotherham United which meant he got off on the right foot with supporters.
But in only his second game in charge, he had to contend with the loss of leading scorer Ross Stewart to a hamstring injury in the warm-up at Middlesbrough. And then less than half-an-hour into his third game at Reading in mid-September, Ellis Simms limped off with a toe injury and Mowbray has not had a senior centre-forward to call upon since.
