Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray has told his players to give him a reason not to sign a new striker in the January window.
Sunderland sit in 6th place in the Championship table and are on course to replicate last season’s top six finish.
They have scored 27 goals, which is nine less than the league’s top scorers, 2nd placed Ipswich Town. When it comes to how the goals have been shared out, there is a one player who is by far the top scorer – Jack Clarke. He has scored nine goals, with the next best goal tally just three.
That has to be a bit of a worry for Mowbray, with none of the strikers finding much form in front of goal. With that in mind, the Sunderland boss has issued a challenge to his frontmen.
He told the Sunderland Echo:
“We’ve talked about the striker position, these lads have a brilliant opportunity. If they’re not scoring a goal and they’ve all played 10, 15 games each and no goals then something is wrong and we need to address it.
“But that’s every position. If the centre-halves can’t keep a clean sheet, if the goalie keeps throwing the ball in his own net, that’s what you do constantly, you have to keep moving forward.
