Tony Mowbray hopes Ross Stewart will be back in 'days rather than weeks' after leaving him out of Sunderland's defeat against West Bromwich Albion as a precaution. Stewart had been expected to make his long-awaited return from the thigh injury that had kept him out since the end of August, albeit Mowbray had suggested he would only be included on the bench against the Baggies, but he was left off the teamsheet.
Afterwards, Mowbray revealed the Scotland international had felt some minor discomfort after playing 60 minutes of a behind-closed-doors friendly against Middlesbrough at Rockliffe Park on Wednesday, and he had decided to take no chances with his star striker. "If he's not ready in his mind, he's not fit, he's not ready, and we have to deal with that," said Mowbray.
"We have dealt with it for the last three and a bit months, so I don't think we should be gambling with Ross Stewart if he is feeling some discomfort in the area where he has been injured. He played 60 minutes in midweek in a bounce game and he just felt a little bit delicate, I think, after that - he felt nothing during it.
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"We're just taking that precaution really of not forcing him into a situation where he damages it. We'll give him as long as he needs, but hopefully that is only days rather than weeks."
In Stewart's absence, Sunderland were beaten by the Baggies despite the in-form Amad giving them the lead from the penalty spot in the first half. West Brom turned the game on its head in the second half with subs Tom Rogic and Daryl Dike scoring the goals which gave the Midlanders their fourth successive win.
Mowbray admitted it was a frustrating night for his side and said it might have been different had Alex Pritchard not been denied by goalkeeper Alex Palmer when he had the chance to make it 2-0. And he also said his side should have been more positive rather than trying to protect their single-goal lead.
He said: "It was a frustrating night for us. Pritch's chance in the first half when he was through one-on-one with the goalie, if that had gone ini it would have been 2-0 and it would have been a long way back for them from there.
"We need to address the scenario where we feel that we have to protect something, because we don't help ourselves - we sat too deep, invited pressure on, when this team at this stadium needs to play on the front foot. Yet it's a human thing, really, sometimes to try and protect what you have got.
"Against good teams and good players, if you give them too much time on the ball they will pick the right pass more often than not, and that's what they did tonight. It's a learning curve, it's a journey for this team.
"The frustration is that we are so close to being pretty good and then you get a slap in the face like tonight which knocks you back a bit. There will be good days around the corner, and we will learn from nights like this."
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