Tony Mowbray urges Sunderland fans to not judge debutant on Millwall performance

Tony Mowbray says it was ‘unfair’ to judge debutant Joe Gelhardt as Sunderland battled to a 1-1 draw at Millwall.

Gelhardt came in for the injured Ross Stewart at The Den, although he struggled to make any real impact in what was an incredibly physical game.

Mowbray, though, says that game was something of a one-off, and it was never going to be one that showcased Gelhardt especially well.

"It's difficult, the way the game went we didn't have the control that we normally have because of the way they play,” Mowbray said.

“It seemed to be a foul every five seconds so we didn't have enough control, the game kept stopping and starting.

“It'll be interesting to know how many fouls there were in that football match.

“So there was no fluency and we couldn't get our game going. It's a bit unfair to judge anybody because we didn't have enough control.

“But we'll take the point, put it in the bag and move onto the next game."

Sunderland will now turn their attention back to the FA Cup in the week, with them facing Fulham at the Stadium of Light.

However, they will have to do it without Dennis Cirkin who suffered a concussion in the act of scoring the equaliser at The Den.

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