Tony Mowbray explains why Nazariy Rusyn may hold the answers to Sunderland striker woes

Tony Mowbray says he is happy with Nazariy Rusyn but admits the Ukrainian needs a goal to ignite his Sunderland career.

Rusyn signed for Sunderland in the summer after a lengthy pursuit, and he is something of an outlier compared to other recruits in the sense he is in his mid-20s rather than a raw youngster.

That means Sunderland can probably expect a little more from him, but he is off to a slow start and without a goal in his two starts for the club so far.

However, he is likely to continue to lead the line for the visit of Birmingham City this weekend, and Mowbray is confident the goals will start flowing soon.

“Naz is doing great,” Mowbray said. “He just needs a goal, like the others need a goal. Mason [Burstow] needs a goal and [Luis] Hemir needs a goal.

“Naz is a lovely lad. I was going to call him a kid he’s not a kid he’s 24/25 now isn’t he. But he’s alright, he’s quite tidy with the ball, he’s direct, he wants to run in behind.

“He knows that his job is to try and score goals and be on the end of some of the moves that the wide players create and if they eliminate [opposition players] he has to get in the box and score the goals.

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“He doesn’t carry any edges with him Naz. You generally get one word answers ‘yes’ when you say are you going to do this, are you going to get in the box and score.

“He’s lovely, I just hope for him he can get on the end of something. He’s so nearly been on the end of things. He’s a bit like Hemir [in that sense].”

Is Nazariy Rusyn the answer for Sunderland?

It’s impossible to say but he certainly looks like the best bet right now. He isn’t physically dominant or a target man type, but is that really what Sunderland need?

Obviously the spectre of Ross Stewart looms large. The Scot was a towering presence up front for Sunderland before he was sold to Southampton and a regular source of goals. Well, when he was fit at least.

However, most of Stewart’s goals didn’t really come from overpowering defenders and physical domination. They came from incisive runs behind a defence and making centre backs turn to face their own goal.

Rusyn is certainly capable of that, and it is something we have seen plenty of from him in his two starts so far.

Is Nazariy Rusyn the answer for Sunderland?

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