Tony Mowbray 'confident' Ross Stewart will remain at Sunderland

Tony Mowbray is ‘confident’ Ross Stewart is not going anywhere this month despite reported interest in the Sunderland striker.

Stewart is the hottest striker in the Championship right now, scoring four in his last four games, two of which he hasn’t even started.

No striker can boast a better minutes-per-goal statistic than Stewart, and that has caught the attention of many other clubs hoping to prise the Scotland international away this month.

His contract situation is not helping either, with him yet to agree an extension to his current deal that expires in 18 months.

Mowbray, though, says he has no real fears about losing his star man this month.

Asked if he thinks Ross Stewart will still be a Sunderland player on February 1, Mowbray said: "I'm confident [he'll stay]

“I don't think the phone is ringing off the hook at the moment. It's great that he's playing again and scoring lots of goals.”

There were rumours last month that Stewart’s head has been turned by offers on the table from other clubs, although one of them, Middlesbrough, moved for Cameron Archer as they believe he is not interested in a move.

Mowbray has revealed that Stewart is still so motivated at Sunderland, in fact, that he has asked to play in the cup against Shrewsbury.

“I've had a conversation with him today and he wants to play on Saturday because he wants to keep building up his resilience - and obviously that's a dilemma for the coaching staff as to what we do.

“We'll make that decision over the next day or so."

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