Tony Mowbray is looking to put a dent in Reading's 'exceptional' start to the season as Sunderland head to the Madejski Stadium. After the weekend's enforced break, when all EFL fixtures were postponed following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Sunderland resume their campaign against Reading tomorrow night.
Reading finished fourth-bottom of the Championship last season, surviving only by virtue of the fact that Derby County were docked 21 points, and were tipped by many to struggle again this term. But they have defied those predictions, with Paul Ince's side making an excellent start to the current campaign and they sit third in the table, having won four of their last five games.
"I think they've done exceptionally well," said Mowbray. "I don't think anyone thought they would be where they are in the league table because they lost John Swift, who I think has been one of the best players in the Championship over the last few years, when he went to West Brom on a free transfer.
READ MORE: Tony Mowbray puts a timescale on Edouard Michut's likely first-team introduction
"I think [Lucas] Joao is an important player for them. I had Lucas on loan when I first joined Blackburn Rovers and he is a very talented individual who they [Reading] missed for a lot of last season, but he's back fit and scoring goals. Paul Ince has galvanised them and done an extremely good job.
"Looking at their last five games, they have won four and they have beaten teams like Stoke and Middlesbrough, so they have found a way to get results. It will be a tricky game for us but we believe we can go to Reading and give them problems."
The visit to Reading is the first of two long away trips in the space of less than 72 hours, with Sunderland due to face Watford at Vicarage Road on Saturday afternoon. But Mowbray says the team will stay and train in the South between the two games, to cut down on the travelling.
He said: "We have morning meetings with the sports science department, with the medical department, the football coaches, to make sure everything is in place to play Reading away and then a few days later to play Watford away. It looked as though it was all going to be thrown out by events - there was a lot of talk around whether the Watford game would go ahead because it's on the outskirts of London.
"But now we're planning to play Reading and then stay and train down South for a few days, rather than travel back, have one day here, and then travel all the way back South again."
Last weekend, the blanket postponements throughout the league meant that Sunderland's home game against Millwall was called off at short notice. The postponement of the entire programme met with a mixed reaction, with some fans feeling it was right for football to do so as a mark of respect, while others felt the games should have gone ahead to allow supporters to pay their own tributes.
For his part, Mowbray has backed the authorities' decision, although he says it is now right to get back to work. He said: "I was very respectful of a decision that powers above my head made.
"I stood in front of my TV and watched like everybody else, and it was very difficult not to get emotional about some of the words, some of the pictures, how the country has reacted. For all of us, the Queen was a constant in our lives so there was a feeling of immortality there.
"Any right-minded person has been solemn over the last few days, and the footballers are no different. There have been no games for them to have to try and focus on, and it would probably have been quite strange to have a dressing room-type environment where you're trying to get them up for a match and to a level where it feels gladitorial, where you go out there with your sword and your shield and you have to fight for your team and your town and your supporters.
"I feel it was the right thing to do, but we have to get back to work at some stage. The world goes on and I'm sure the Queen, who seemed to love sport and understand sport, she would understand that."
READ NEXT:
- Tony Mowbray reveals Blackburn were plotting a summer move for Sunderland's Dan Neil
- Tony Mowbray on 'juggernaut' Sunderland, and his reunion with Stuart Harvey on Wearside
- Kristjaan Speakman sets out Sunderland's promotion ambitions, but admits it will take time
- Tony Mowbray backs Ellis Simms to shine during Ross Stewart's injury absence
- ' Unknown quantity' Sunderland have proven themselves with a strong start in the Championship
