Sunderland AFC latest news: Stance on Tony Mowbray, Amid Diallo, striker search, Trai Hume | OneFootball

It's been a tough couple of weeks for Tony Mowbray and his side.

Even before the disappointing draw with Millwall at the weekend, the feeling around Sunderland wasn't great. Journalist Mike Graham said that pressure on the manager from the higher-ups was starting to build, and added that: "it won’t take much for the club to decide on a change." Graham also said that Kristjaan Speakman, the club's sporting director, wants: "a young, trendy coach."

All of this came before the points were shared at The Den, so you can only imagine how thin the ice that Mowbray stands on is. They've taken five points from their last five games; all of those games came against teams in the bottom half of the table. That's not good for a promotion-chasing team.

Mowbray provides Amad Diallo update

One area that Sunderland have really struggled with this season is getting goals from their strikers. They're still yet to have one of their number nines find the back of the net in the Championship this season.

One of the players that took care of goalscoring last year was Manchester United loanee Amad Diallo. The forward scored 13 goals during his season-long loan spell in the northeast, and was a big factor in the club almost getting promoted to the Premier League.

Sunderland fans have wanted him back ever since he left, but the manager doesn't seem too confident about getting him back in January. "You are asking the wrong person to be honest," said Mowbray, after the Millwall match, when asked about the chances of Diallo returning. "I don't know what the plans are for January at the moment, we haven't really discussed it yet."

"I would imagine, if he's going to be fit, he'll be going off to the Africa Cup of Nations. I don't think he'd be available for the whole of January. Let's see what the club are thinking of about how we are doing by then."

The Ivory Coast international suffered a knee injury in pre-season that has, so far, sidelined him for the current campaign.

Things just go from bad to worse for Sunderland, don't they? With all the problems that Mowbray's side are having up front, the hope was that January additions would be the solution. Not only are the unlikely to bring back Diallo, but they might not bring in any forwards.

"I don’t know if we will be signing a striker," said the manager. "I do get asked of course, and sit in recruitment meetings but we haven’t had one yet about January.

The Northern Irish full-back has been putting in some pretty stellar performances so far this season. The 21-year-old arrived in the northeast just under two years ago, for a fee in the region of £200,000, according to the BBC. The club could make massive profits on Hume, with one top flight team amongst a group of clubs monitoring him.

Premier League side Burnley are looking at bringing in the Northern Irish international, according to TEAMtalk. The Clarets aren't the only side with a first division pedigree that are looking at the 21-year-old. TEAMtalk also reported that Leicester City and Leeds United are also keeping tabs on Hume.

The full-back's contract doesn't expire until the summer of 2027, with an option for an extra year on top of that.The Black Cats will be in no hurry to offload him, but they'll make a pretty penny from it when they do.

Sunderland hopeful of injury return for West Brom match

Nazariy Rusyn has missed the previous two games with a slight groin strain, but, unless the issue worsens before the weekend, the Ukranian forward is expected to be available for selection against the Baggies.

It's taken a while for the 25-year-old to settle into life at the Stadium of Light. He's only made nine league appearances for the club. But he got a relatively consistent run of playing games, between the end of October and the end of November. Having him back should only help Sunderland's striker woes.