Sunderland 'know what's missing' ahead of summer recruitment, says Tony Mowbray

Tony Mowbray says Sunderland will look to add some physicality to their talented technical squad in the summer.

The Black Cats have had a strange season in which they have overachieved on their expectations at the start of the campaign although perhaps ultimately fallen short – mainly due to injuries – of the heights they might have reached.

What they have done, though, is enhanced their reputation for playing quality football, and while Mowbray is keen to preserve that, he is also acutely aware of what needs to be added in the summer to progress again.

“We’re having those conversations with Stuart [Harvey, the club's head of recruitment] all the time, Mowbray said. "I think as a staff we all know what we’re missing and what we need to add to the team.

“It’s alright being a technical team – we have a lot of technical players but they’re not physical powerhouses. I knew we would feel the power of Luton and yet we have to be able to play through it, round it and over the top of it.

“Our team needs a little bit of that [power] but we also need talent, and we always discuss that as well. They have to be able to play.

“It’s always a balance between talent and physicality, mentality. Recruitment along with the coaching department is the most important, you have to get it right and if you’re not spending millions and millions then you can’t afford to get it wrong.”

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