Tony Mowbray does not expect a repeat of Cardiff City’s ‘rope-a-dope’ approach when Watford visit the Stadium of Light tonight. In their last home outing, Sunderland dominated throughout but were unable to find a way through the Bluebirds’ massed defensive ranks and, to rub salt into their wounds, Cardiff then scored a set-piece winner just a couple of minutes from full-time.
The Black Cats responded to that defeat with a 3-0 victory on the road at bottom-of-the-table Sheffield Wednesday on Friday, and now they return to Wearside to take on a Watford side that has struggled in the opening couple of months of the season. Valerian Ismael’s Hornets have won just once since the opening day of the season and are languishing in the lower reaches of the Championship, but Mowbray believes they are better than their results suggest and he feels they will come to Sunderland prepared to attack rather than adopt the Cardiff gameplan of simply absorbing pressure.
“I think they’ve got very, very, talented footballers,” said Mowbray of Watford. “They look very athletic.
“I’m not sure why their results haven’t been there at this moment. During the week, I watched their games and they are capable of scoring really good goals, they have really good individuals, so I know it will be a really tough test for us.
“I don’t anticipate them coming and banking everyone behind the ball because I think the talent they have got in their team suggests they will come and try to utilise that talent. Our intention will be to be positive and attack, and I think that’s what they like to do as well.
“I’m not sure Watford will come with a deep block. They have got lots of players who have played in the Premier League, who are highly talented and fast and dynamic, and they might come and fancy their chances of beating us so we have to be ready for whatever is put in front of us.
“I put very little stock in the fact that Watford and Middlesbrough, our next two games, are low down in the league – they have some really good players, they are good sides, and we need to respect that.”
Sunderland’s results on the road were better than those on home soil last term, with the Black Cats collecting 39 of their 69 points on their travels. And this season has started in a similar vein, with ten of their 16 points so far coming away from home.
Mowbray says that is down to the different approach teams have when they visit Wearside – but admits it is up to Sunderland to find a way to counter that. He said: “I think it’s down to the way the opposition set up at the Stadium of Light.
“It can be an intimidating environment for teams and I think they have gameplans. That’s the challenge for every top team, I suppose – it’s not an excuse, it’s a fact that team set up to make life really difficult for you and try to quieten the crowd down by taking their time over things.
