Football League World
·8 February 2023
Football League World
·8 February 2023
Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray has admitted that the lack of a natural striker proved costly as they were beaten 3-2 by Fulham in the FA Cup on Wednesday night.
The Black Cats put in an impressive display against the Londoners but goals from Harry Wilson, Andreas Pereira and Layvin Kurzawa ensured the Premier League side booked a fifth round tie against Leeds United.
Even though they scored twice, Mowbray explained to the Sunderland Echo that they could’ve had more but the lack of a natural number nine was an issue as they didn’t have a player to finish off the good build-up play.
“There is a frustration that without a striker, I want them to pull the trigger more often. Everyone wants to play an extra boss in the box for someone to sidefoot it in. That’s the only frustration really, because we did have a go.
“Ross Stewart just plays between the sticks and he’s there just to poke those balls in. It’s hard to get midfield players into those areas, and yet we’ve had a go and we’ve scored two goals against a Premier League side, and by the second half it wasn’t far from being their best team.”
With Stewart out injured, Sunderland also couldn’t call on Joe Gelhardt as he is cup-tied.
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The verdict
This is a very fair assessment from Mowbray and it’s an understandable issue for Sunderland as they didn’t have a clinical number nine on the pitch.
Of course, there will be a hope that Gelhardt can make the difference in the league and you would expect him to have thrived if he had featured.
Overall though, there were plenty of positives for Sunderland to take and Mowbray will be pleased with how his side performed against a Fulham side that are in the top half of the Premier League.
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