‘Never tires, never moans, just wants to play’ - Tony Mowbray hails ‘robust’ Sunderland star

Tony Mowbray has paid tribute to Amad Diallo, using him as an example of the ‘robust’ quality footballers Sunderland want to produce.

The Sunderland boss has been criticised for playing Ross Stewart in the FA Cup fourth round game against Fulham after the Achilles injury he suffered at Craven Cottage.

Mowbray, though, dismisses the idea that players should be protected from playing as ultimately it hurts their development, and he says on-loan Man Utd star Amad is the perfect example of what a player’s attitude should be.

"I think if you get yourself in a situation where you are trying to protect them all the time and you're not playing them in this game and not playing them in that game because you're being careful,” Mowbray said. “You have to try and build robust footballers, I think.

"I don't want to say 'I played 60 games a season for six seasons on the bounce and we played every three days' because the game was different, the pitches were different, everything was different. I do like the idea of building young, robust, footballers who can play.

"Look at Amad - he plays every minute of every game, never says he's tired, never moans about anything, he just wants to play footy.

“He just wants to be out there playing, and you could leave him out there all day just kicking a ball about and doing tricks with his mates.

"That's what you want, footballers who just want to play, who are asking 'when's the next game, when can I get my boots on and go again?'

“That's what I'm hoping we've got, some really athletic, hungry footballers who want to show everybody how good they are."

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