What Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray said about Ellis Simms' injury, Nathan Broadhead and Wigan Athletic
and live on Freeview channel 276
The Black Cats sit 12th in the table following last weekend’s defeat at Swansea, while the Latics have climbed to ninth following Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Blackburn.
Mowbray is still dealing with several injury issues and his side will once again have to play without a recognised striker, with Ross Stewart and Ellis Simms unavailable.
Wigan also have several former Sunderland players in their squad, including Nathan Broadhead, Charlie Wyke, Max Power, James McLean and Ashley Fletcher.
Here’s what was said at the Academy of Light:
RECAP: Tony Mowbray press conference
Key Events
- Sunderland are preparing to face Wigan at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
- Black Cats boss Tony Mowbray held his pre-match press conference earlier today.
- Mowbray is still dealing with several injury issues following last weekend’s defeat at Swansea.
Good Morning
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Tony Mowbray’s pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s match against Wigan.
The Black Cats boss is set to speak to the media at 9:30am - and we’ll have live updates from the Academy of Light.
Stick around and refresh the page for the latest news.
We’ll start with the latest team news.
Based on Mowbray’s previous comments it looks highly unlikely that Ellis Simms will be back for this weekend’s game against Wigan.
Ahead of last week’s game against Blackpool, Mowbray said: “I’m hoping I’ll surprise you all in two or three weeks by saying Ellis is back training and you might see him on the bench, but at the moment, that’s not the case.
“We have to be cautious with him.
“If you picture the injury, it’s his big toe, it’s a ligament and it needs some time to settle down. I don’t think it’s a case of ‘strap it up, lock the bottom half of his foot solid, and just put it in a boot’.”
Ross Stewart and Dan Ballard also remain unavailable, with both likely to be back training just before the World Cup break. Mowbray may want to give them that three-week period to get fully up to speed.
Dennis Cirkin returned to the Sunderland bench at Swansea following a hamstring issue and played 90 minutes for the under-21s side on Monday.
We’ll get a further update when Mowbray speaks to the media this morning.
Mowbray on injuries
“Not a lot changes.
“Saying that, Ellis (Simms) is getting his boots on today and getting on the grass, first day back on the grass.
“He’s been on the treadmill, which takes your bodyweight out of it, and he felt fine so he’s getting his boots on and coming outside today.
“If he comes through the next few days you never know he won’t be far away hopefully.”
Mowbray on Wigan
“I think they have a really experienced team. I watched them on the tele on Tuesday.
“They have a lot of players who have been associated with this club as well and have the best away record in the football league and not just the Championship.
“It’s a tough game for us is what I’m trying to say.
“They won League One last year and Sunderland finished fifth so it will be a very difficult game against a side which finished ahead of us last year, and it looks like a similar team
“Broadhead is obviously there and has given them a different string to their bow I think. He’s very mobile and has added to the physicality they have. Charlie Wyke is obviously back now.
“You look at the players they brought off the bench the other night, they all seen to be 6 ft 3 strikers coming on.”
“They are experienced and are doing very well in the league so it will be a tough game.”
Mowbray on ex-Sunderland players at Wigan
“I think every team knows how the opposition plays these days, everybody has got access to footage.
“Whether it’s extra motivation for ex-Sunderland players coming back to the Stadium of Light, we have to see.
“At the end of the day they will have blue and white shirts on and we’ll have red and white shirts on so we will have to do our best to make sure our supporters go home happy
“The league is so tight so every point is important. If we can get three points it will be a good three points for us.”
Mowbray on Corry Evans’ suspension
“Corry is the skipper and I think the consistency of his performance levels have been the important thing.
“He’s a player who does what it says on the tin, he sweeps up behind all the clever technicians we have higher up the pitch.
“He’s always been very, very good at anticipation and reading the situation.
“He’s an international footballer so of course we will miss him, and miss the vocal side of his game as well as what he brings with his feet.
“It’s just another day to adapt, and suspensions and injuries are part of football and we just have to accept it.”
Mowbray on lack of striker options
“It’s a cycle I think we preempted really, so when we scored five goals at Wigan and Watford I did sit here and say I know what football is like, down the line we are going to talk about those strikers.
“Jack (Clarke) scored the other day but it has been difficult to get people into the middle of the six-yard box. It’s trying to change the habits of a lifetime of a footballer really.
“It’s ok saying get in the box but when the game is going on and naturally you want to go and have a touch and go away from the goal and come towards the ball it’s hard to change habits of a footballer.”
“We’ll keep persevering. I think we have created enough chances and it’s not like we haven’t had any shots in these games.
“There are always two teams playing and I feel we have been pretty proactive in the games at home, 16 and 15 shots in the two 0-0 draws for instance, only two on target which is not enough.
“In the training ground, we practise, we work and keep trying to change that mentality of getting people into the box because you score goals from inside the six-yard box.”
More to come...
That brings us to the end of the broadcast section of the press conference - but Mowbray has also spoken to the written press, including our SAFC writer Phil Smith.
We’ll have more from the Black Cats boss over on the SAFC section of the Sunderland Echo website.