Tony Mowbray suffered a hamstring injury while celebrating Sunderland’s dramatic late equaliser against Watford – but the pain will soon be forgotten if his side enjoy a play-off “party” at Preston next week.
The Black Cats kept their top-six hopes alive with a spirited late comeback in the 2-2 draw with Chris Wilder’s side, with Patrick Roberts scoring a stunning leveller in the fifth minute of added time. That resulted in scenes of joy in the home dugout, but delight turned to pain for home boss Mowbray.
“I think it’s a hamstring injury,” he said. “I never had a hamstring injury in 18 years as a professional because I was never fast enough but when that goal went in, I obviously moved a bit too quick. I’m sure it’ll be fine, a bit of treatment. We have a full treatment room but if I can grab a physio I’ll be fine.”
Watford were two goals ahead at a sold-out Stadium of Light thanks to headers from Christian Kabasele in the first half and Ryan Porteous in the 69th minute. But 60 seconds after that second goal, Luke O’Nien gave Sunderland a lifeline before Roberts’ moment of brilliance deep into stoppage time.
The draw leaves Sunderland in seventh, two points shy of sixth-placed Millwall ahead of their final-day trip to Deepdale.
Mowbray said: “It gives us real clarity that we have to go and win at Preston next week. If we do, everyone around us has tough games on paper.
“Let’s go and win. It’s real clarity now, we know we need to go and get the three points and see what happens.
“I’m pretty relaxed about it. We’ve given ourselves a real opportunity, we’ll take 6,000 fans there, let’s hope it’s a big party.
“We showed reasonable patience and then Roberts, a guy I’ve been speaking about since I came in here, I could never believe he was playing in League One last year, he’s an amazing footballer. Cometh the hour, cometh the man.
“I don’t think anybody could argue we didn’t deserve something from that football match.
“We’re in it until the last day of the season. It still might not be enough, but that’s OK, it’s been an enjoyable season working with the young players.”
Despite frustration at conceding the last-gasp leveller, Wilder was pleased with the way his side competed in front of a crowd of 44,944. But he says there is a “lot of work to be done” this summer, with the Hornets, who are 13th, having endured a disappointing first season back in the Championship.
He said: “Roberts found a fabulous finish in the 95th minute. We wanted to take the sting out of it but we handed them a route back into the game.
“We need resilience. People thought we would come here and roll over in front of 45,000 fans. Our fans saw a team who wanted to win and have a go, but there is lots of work to be done at Watford.
“I am disappointed we’ve not extracted the results we wanted. I am disappointed we didn’t have anything to play for today. There will be reflection at the end of the season.
“We are going to finish mid-table and outsiders will say how has that happened, but there is a reason.”
