Tony Mowbray hopes Amad and Alex Pritchard will be back in contention for next weekend's home game against Luton Town - if not before. The duo missed Sunderland's 1-0 win against Norwich City at Carrow Road, with on-loan Manchester United forward Amad limping out of training with a hamstring issue on Friday while midfielder Pritchard missed out on facing one of his old clubs after he also picked up a knock.
Mowbray did not go as far as to rule them out of Wednesday night's game against Sheffield United at the Stadium of Light, but suggested that Saturday's clash with Luton might be a more realistic return date. "It's not satisfying to win without them," he said, following the win in Norfolk.
"Amad is such an important footballer, Pritch has missed a fair bit of the season through injury and yet he is a really talented boy and he has a big personality in the group. They are both big losses.
READ MORE: Sunderland player ratings as defenders excel in fine win at play-off rivals Norwich City
"How long [will they be out]? If they don't make Wednesday, I think they should be available for Saturday - that's my guess. I've spoken to Amad, he had a scan and there's no tear, there's no damage, the hamstring looks perfect.
"He's a lad who's never played three consecutive 90 minutes in his career and he's just played 32 of them, or something like that, so his body is telling him and he is cramping up and his hamstrings are tight. We need to give him a rest, take him off the grass for a few days, let him have a swim in the pool, let him have a massage and a rub, and in a week's time I think he'll be out there flying again and finish the season strongly for us."
In their absence, Sunderland managed to stop the rot after three successive defeats and their win against the Canaries lifted them back up to tenth in the table and cut the gap between themselves and the play-off places to five points. Mowbray said: "We tried to play positively and aggressively and on the front foot against a team we knew would try to build from the back and play out from the back.
"I've watched some games where, if you sit off them and try to play too much with a deep block, they will eventually find a way through. It worked well in the first 30 minutes, I think, and we could have scored more than one goal.
"Yet we did then get pushed back by a decent football team. Every game is different and we lost last week 5-1 against Stoke City because of the way they played, but we knew today was a totally different challenge for us and we were ready for it.
"We found a way, we got the job done. I don't think 'we must have been terrible losing 5-1 last week, so how do you turn that round to win 1-0 today'.
"It's different teams, different styles, different ways of playing, and today it probably suited us a little bit better than what we faced last week, which was a real mid-block team who don't really want to play with the ball but are waiting for your mistakes."
Abdoullah Ba scored the only goal of the game on the quarter-hour, with the summer signing from Le Havre opening his account in English football. Mowbray said: "Abdoullah is a really talented boy.
"He just needs to learn to move the ball and run without it sometimes because he wants to get it and beat people all the time and it can be frustrating sometimes when he dribbles and loses it. I've just had a bit of a laugh in the dressing room with him because I told him before the game that I felt he'd score today and stick one in the top corner, but he put it in the bottom corner!"
Mowbray also praised Jack Clarke and Patrick Roberts, saying: "Patrick has probably had better games with the ball but he worked extraordinarily hard, and Jack Clarke - while he didn't score today - I think it was probably his best performance since I've been here, with his work ethic and his ability to ask questions of Max Aarons was really impressive. Great credit to them all, really, and from the team's point of view it takes away the negative narrative of four without a win, three defeats in a row, because we have some really difficult games coming up.
"The next two [against Sheffield United and Luton Town] are at home but they are against the teams second and fourth in the league."
READ NEXT:
Abdoullah Ba strikes as Sunderland rejoin play-off battle with victory at Norwich City
- Dennis Cirkin's lingering concussion is a worry, admits Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray
- Tony Mowbray sets out what Pierre Ekwah needs to do before he is ready for Sunderland's starting XI
- Tony Mowbray rules out fast-tracking hot-shot teenager into Sunderland's first-team
- Lynden Gooch returns to Sunderland squad as Tony Mowbray gives injury update ahead of Norwich trip
