Tony Mowbray makes Joe Gelhardt admission after slow start for Sunderland

Tony Mowbray admits Joe Gelhardt is not yet ‘up to speed’ for Sunderland, but he says it is just really a matter of time.

Gelhardt is Sunderland’s only available striker, but he arrived on Wearside short of fitness and sharpness having not played much for Leeds this season.

He was against largely ineffectual against Reading, just as he was on his debut at Millwall, but Mowbray says he is getting closer every week.

"We're trying to get Joffy up to speed,” Mowbray admitted. “He's got to learn how to play with this team and what types of balls we put in.

“But it'll do him good today to get 70 or 80 minutes in him. So let's just keep going, we found a way to win the football match.

“I said to them in there, it's important even if you don't play the best you find a way to win. We just keep the points total ticking along."

Sunderland were certainly well short of their usual level against Reading, with the slick one and two-touch passing that has come to define them under Mowbray struggling to get going.

Mowbray says Reading deserve some credit for that, but also puts a lot of it down to fatigue after a tough week for his players.

"The points are all that matter today I think,” he said. “They looked dull really the players, their brains looked a bit dull today.

“I'm trying not to use the words tired or fatigued, but Wednesday-Saturday games are always really tough to be honest.

“We played against a team who were really well-organised today, denied us space, tried to deal with our wide players. We huffed and puffed for 90 minutes really.

“We kept them down to not many chances and it was just great to score in the end. It was a tough day for us and one where we really had to work hard.

“We put a lot of subs on because I felt the team looked really fatigued but we got there in the end. We'll take the points, put them in the bag and move onto the next game."

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