Tony Mowbray insists Joe Gelhardt will rediscover his 'confidence and belief' and emerge from a 'tough period' all the stronger as the Leeds United loanee struggles for goals in Sunderland's Championship campaign. January addition Gelhardt has scored just once in eight outings for the Black Cats, despite having a number of chances to add to his tally.
Mowbray says Gelhardt is a different type of player to Ross Stewart - the man he was brought in to partner but has ended up replacing, with the Scot suffering a season-ending Achilles injury - and that has meant he has had to adapt. But while goals have been hard to come by, his all-round game has been good and he provided the assist for Abdoullah Ba in Sunday's 1-0 win at Norwich City, although just a couple of minutes later Gelhardt then failed to convert a gilt-edged chance himself.
"I see him every day in training and if he was falling way short, he wouldn't be playing - I wouldn't be putting him in the team," said Mowbray, whose Sunderland side takes on promotion-chasing Sheffield United at the Stadium of Light tonight. "Just because he is on loan from Leeds United it doesn't mean he has to play, it's his performance level that is getting him in the team.
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"What's getting him in the team at the moment is his work ethic allied to the talent that he has got, and he just has to find the confidence and the belief. Sometimes the best way is to keep working through a tough period.
"If the tough period becomes a real burden to him then I'll take him out, but at this moment I still think he has real belief that he can score goals and he is helping the team. So let's keep going with him and hopefully he can nick a goal or two between now and the end of the season."
Gelhardt was originally signed to work in tandem with ten-goal top scorer Stewart, but the Black Cats' star striker saw his season prematurely ended in an FA Cup tie at Fulham even before the newcomer could make his debut. Mowbray said: "He's a long way from Ross Stewart who is 6ft 4in and a totally different athlete, whereas young Gelhardt is quite squat and powerful in his hips with a low centre of gravity.
"We're glad he is here. He works really hard for the team. He'll keep working hard and opportunities to score goals will come."
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