Tony Mowbray says he could 'feel' Wigan's fear of Sunderland in 4-1 thrashing

Tony Mowbray says he felt Wigan were scared of Sunderland from the very start in the Black Cats' 4-1 win at the DW Stadium.

Sunderland put on a fine performance and comfortably won the game thanks to goals from Ellis Simms, Ross Stewart, Partrick Roberts and Amad Diallo.

The result left Wigan rooted to the bottom of the Championship table while Sunderland climbed to fourth. It was also Sunderland’s fifth win against Wigan since August 2021, and Mowbray thinks the Latics definitely showed signs of fear during the contest.

"I felt they were wary of us and they didn't over-commit too many men to the press,” he said.

“They didn't play with the energy that I saw them play with against Middlesbrough the other day when they had 17 shots at Boro's goal. It felt a bit as though they were on the back foot against us right from the start.”

Despite Sunderland’s dominance, they allowed Wigan back in the game by conceding a sloppy goal right just before half-time.

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It could have made things needlessly tough after the break, and Mowbray admits he found it immensely frustrating. However, he has put it down to a lack of experience within Sunderland’s young team.

"It's a lack of experience,” he said. “You have to smell when a team is there for the taking, be really positive, over-commit, get men in the box.

"I think it's all a learning experience for the team, but it was a frustration at half-time that we hadn't got the job done by then, really.

"They did carry a threat and until we got the third goal, it was always in the balance and they were always capable of scoring again."

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