Tony Mowbray says Sunderland will only sign a free agent if he fits into the culture of the club - insisting it could go 'disastrously wrong' if they are panicked into bringing in a replacement for Ross Stewart without having done their homework. The Black Cats have been rocked by the loss of Stewart to injury, with the man whose 26 goals powered their promotion last season, and who has already scored five times in seven games in the Championship, pulling out of Monday's game at Middlesbrough at short notice after suffering a thigh injury in the warm-up.
The Scotland international has since had a scan on the injury, and he is expected to be out for between six and eight weeks. That has left on-loan Everton man Ellis Simms as Sunderland's only fit specialist senior centre-forward, leaving head coach Mowbray to decide whether to play someone out of position up front alongside Simms, or change system.
With the transfer window having closed last week without another striker arriving on Wearside, Sunderland are now scouring the list of available free agents but Mowbray says the club must take great care before signing someone outside the window. "Only if it's the right player," he said, when asked if that was a route the club might go down.
