Sunderland boss claims they have 'scoured the world' for free agent strikers
Sunderland have ‘scoured the world’ looking for a suitable free agent striker with no success, says Tony Mowbray.
Injuries to Ross Stewart and Ellis Simms have left the Black Cats without a senior striker to call upon, and Mowbray has already ruled out giving top under-21s striker Max Thompson a chance at Championship level just yet.
That has left players such as Elliot Embleton, Alex Pritchard and Amad Diallo to fill in with varying degrees of success, but Mowbray has confirmed that the free agent market has been fully explored too.
“We have to get on with it,” he said ahead of the trip to Swansea. “If there is a centre forward out there who is a free transfer who we all liked and wants to fit into this football club moving forward, he’d be here. But that’s not the case. They’ve scoured the world in the free agent market.
“At the moment, let’s get on with what we are doing. Amad is a striker but in our mind he’s not quite ready to do the job like Ross or Ellis would do. We are just getting on with it.
“The plan is to stick to the plan. I don’t see anything wrong in trying to find the answers or trying to play football.”
Mowbray has also been quick to point out, though, that regardless of whether someone considers themselves a striker or not, all players have to take greater responsibility when it comes to taking chances in front of goal.
“Unfortunately, when you don’t fill your club with strikers and you have a few injuries, you have to deal with it,” he said.
“I don’t want to moan about the situation, we have to find a way. The last two games have been 15 and 16 shots but only four on target. It’s not as if we are not having any shots on goal.
“We have to accept it and keep moving forward. If we keep working on it in training, we’ll score more and win football matches.”
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