Tony Mowbray reveals loan plan for Sunderland January signing

Tony Mowbray says Joe Anderson may be loaned out next year as part of the plan to integrate him into the Sunderland first team.

Anderson joined Sunderland from Everton in January, although he arrived in the North East with no first-team football under his belt.

He played a few minutes as a substitute in the 1-1 draw with Millwall, but that is the sum of his involvement so far in the Championship.

With the injuries to Dan Ballard and Aji Alese, Anderson may be needed again this season, although Mowbray says there is a longer-term plan for the youngster in mind.

"I want to try and use them all if I can, but we have to choose the right games,” Mowbray said. “Joe will be travelling with us, he's doing really well. He's training well and he's got a good personality.

“For me, he's a centre half in the same mould as players from my previous club like Scotty Wharton and Hayden Carter, young defenders that I sent out on loan to Portsmouth, Cambridge and then they came back and played in the first team every week.

“They go and grow that muscle, they get experience, they come back with a couple of tattoos... you know what I mean, they're turning into men.

"I'm not saying that's what we'll do with Joe, but if we get recruitment right and things are going OK through pre-season, we might have that discussion with him. See if he wants to go and play 25 games and then come back in the New Year and see where we feel he's at."

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