Tony Mowbray admits he was a frustrated man at half-time - telling his players they let Wigan Athletic off the hook in the first period at the DW Stadium. The sides came in all-square at the break, with Ellis Simms' opener having been cancelled out by Will Keane just before the interval when Sunderland should have been a couple of goals to the good.
But in the second half Sunderland took control, with sub Ross Stewart converting a penalty before fellow sub Patrick Roberts added a third goal five minutes from the end, and then Amad made it 4-1 in the final minute. "I was really frustrated at half-time and I told them we should be coming in winning this game three or four-one, and that they'd let them [Wigan] off the hook really," said Mowbray.
"I felt they were wary of us and they didn't over-commit too many men to the press, they didn't play with the energy that I saw them play with against Middlesbrough the other day when they had 17 shots at Boro's goal. It felt a bit as though they were on the back foot against us right from the start.
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"It's a lack of experience [on Sunderland's part] - you have to smell when a team is there for the taking, be really positive, over-commit, get men in the box. I think it's all a learning experience for the team, but it was a frustration at half-time that we hadn't got the job done by then, really.
"They did carry a threat and until we got the third goal, it was always in the balance and they were always capable of scoring again."
The win lifted Sunderland into the play-off spots and up to fourth place in the Championship, while Huddersfield Town's win against Rotherham lifted the Terriers above Wigan who sank to the bottom of the table.
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