Tony Mowbray tells Sunderland players to 'step up' and help Joe Gelhardt

Tony Mowbray says Sunderland cannot expect the goalscoring burden to fall solely on Joe Gelhardt after they failed to deliver a ‘knock out’ blow to Coventry.

Sunderland enjoyed plenty of the ball at the CBS Arena but struggled to create chances before slipping to a 2-1 defeat.

The performance brought the Ross Stewart injury into sharp focus, with Mowbray saying after the game that he thinks his side wins that game with the Scotsman in the side.

However, he will not criticise Gelhardt for that, and he has called on the other players to ‘step up’ and help out more with goals in Stewart’s absence by getting in the box more.

Speaking to safc.com, Mowbray said: “What was my take? I felt as if we were in a boxing match really without a knockout punch I think, boxed them to death and yet couldn't knock them out.

“[We got] hit on the transition, and we ended up losing a game that's obviously very frustrating for us, we have be a bit more clinical, we have to commit a few more men into the penalty area.

“I’ve talked about young Joffy Gelhardt who’s a young boy who hasn't played a lot of football yet.

"He’s a really talented individual, he’s working probably more than he's ever worked and yet we need him in the six yard box, we need him to score tap in one touch finishes.

“And that’s not a criticism of him because if anything he's working so hard for the team and yet other people have to step forward. Other people have to get in the box, the opposite winger has to get in the far post and we have to score goals.”

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