Tony Mowbray says skipper Corry Evans sets the standards in the Sunderland dressing room and fully deserves his new contract on Wearside. Northern Ireland midfielder Evans suffered a season-ending cruciate ligament injury against Middlesbrough last month and, with his existing deal due to expire at the end of the season, that was understood to have left him just one game short of triggering an extension.
But Mowbray said in the aftermath that he believed the club would do the right thing by the 32-year-old, and this week they confirmed that Evans had signed a new one-year contract with the option of another 12 months. And today Mowbray said of the announcement: "It's obviously the right thing to do.
"Having known Corry for the last five years at Blackburn Rovers, I know what he brings to the football club. He led the team and was instrumental in the promotion out of League One.
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"I know how important he is in the dressing room and the respect he has got with the rest of the players. With his injury situation at the moment, the right thing to do was to give him peace of mind and to make sure he knows the club are there to support him through this period."
Evans has already undergone surgery on his knee and will soon begin his rehab work, but in the meantime Mowbray says his captain will continue to have a big off-field influence at the club. He said: "I've always called the football dressing room a living organism. It lives and breathes and people do right and wrong things.
"Some new players might not know the boundaries and the standards that are set and someone needs to administer them. There is an old football saying that a head coach is only as good as his senior pros and Corry is the guy that runs that dressing room.
"He makes sure that the players adhere to the standards and the demands. These types of footballers are so important at any club.
"We've talked a lot about the benefits and the negatives of how young this football team is but it is really important that we've got people that lead them and set the standards. Corry fits into all of that."
As for Evans himself, he is excited about the future after extending his stay. "It was a no-brainer really," said Evans, who joined Sunderland on a free transfer from Blackburn in the summer of 2021.
"The club has been really good to me since I've been here - I'm captain and the club has entrusted me with a lot of responsibility. As a team, we've progressed really well over the year-and-a-half since I've been here and there is a bright future ahead and I want to be a part of that.
"The club emphasised that I'm an important part of the squad and they wanted to keep that kind of continuity going. Although I'll be out for the rest of the season, and maybe a bit beyond, they value that I can help in other ways and that's what I'll be looking to do.
"We've done well so far and we are in a great position at the moment. There's still a lot of football to be played and hopefully we can keep the momentum and the form that we've got and it will carry us through to the end of the season.
"I'm really excited about the club and the team. Over the last year-and-a-half since I joined, it has gone up another level. You can see its potential and what it could be.
"The football as well - I just love watching the boys playing because some of the football we are playing at the moment is unbelievable. It's a team that fans pay to come and watch and if I wasn't a player then I would probably pay to come and watch as well! It is that good."
Evans will undergo his rehab alongside striker Ross Stewart, who has also been ruled out for the rest of the season - in his case with an Achilles injury. Of his own injury, Evans said: ""Injuries are part of football and there's not much you can do about it.
"I've got my head around it now and I'm looking forward to the rehab and the recovery. It's going to be a long road but I have Ross by my side and he is going to be out for a similar amount of time and we will drive each other on.
"I just want to crack on now and get started."
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