The strong Sunderland message from Tony Mowbray after disappointing recent defeats

Tony Mowbray says he firmly believes that his Sunderland side are heading in the right direction but admits they have to be braver in possession than they were on Wednesday night.

A disappointing performance against Huddersfield meant it was back-to-back defeats but Mowbray insists he is seeing enough to believe wins are around the corner.

While admitting that they are missing the genius of Amad in the final third, he believes the team has improved from last year and that this will be borne out in time.

"People are allowed to get upset or disappointed," he said. "I'm long enough in the tooth in this industry to know and understand where the team is.

"Have I got any concerns about the team? We'd like to be more clinical and we'd like to have more ruthlessness at the top end of the pitch. Yet I think the team is more fluent this season than last, although of course we are disappointed with two defeats this week against teams we should have beaten.

"Do the next three games look tough? Yeah, but who is to say we won't win them all. We could lose them all and then you'll be talking about two wins in 11 games, I accept that.

"I have been a performance-related coach all my career, really, that is what has given me a level of longevity. I don't just worry about the result, I worry about whether the team is going in the right direction, are we a football team that has an identity and that can find a way to win matches as a product of how we play? I see a team that is trying its very, very best to dominate football matches, to get the ball into the right areas, to be patient when they have to be patient.

"I felt the other night was the first time there was a lack of patience from the crowd - they wanted the ball forward quicker," he added.

"Listen, I wanted the ball forward quicker as well. I want every player to play the ball forward, you hear me constantly saying 'pass forward, run forward'. One of the biggest disappointments for me in midweek was that we turned down too many forward passes.

"When we watched it back, there were very obvious passes into the striker's feet and yet the midfielders played it across to the full-back - it's one of the cardinal sins, for me.

"You have to play forward passes and cut through the opposition, make them turn around and run back towards their own goal. We probably played a bit safe, and I'm not sure why that was. Possession is OK but it can't be your god. I'm not interested in 70-odd percent possession if we aren't scoring any goals or having enough shots on target. I'm sure Huddersfield were happy with their 24 percent [possession] and winning 2-1!

"We needed to play it forward, but that doesn't mean kick it forward and hope and chase it, it means play it forward with quality.

"I'm told that last season we had similar runs - worse runs, actually, winning one in eight and then one in nine - yet we finished really strongly and ended up sixth. The league is like that.

"I'm from Teesside, Middlesbrough didn't win in seven at the start of this season and yet their data was among the best in the division so I knew they'd come good. You have to trust in how you are playing."

Sunderland return to action at Millwall on Saturday afternoon.