'The kind of personality you want' - Tony Mowbray pays tribute to Sunderland star

Sunderland were indebted to a defender for 'stepping up' to solve an injury crisis against Middlesbrough.

Sunderland defender Aji Alese did not suffer another injury breakdown in the win over Middlesbrough, Tony Mowbray has confirmed.

The defender was a surprise name on the teamsheet due to a Sunderland injury crisis in defence, and he put in a fine performance on his return to the side.

That performance was shorted by injury though as he limped off in the second half, but it was just a bit of cramp.

"Alese has had one training session with the team in five weeks,” Mowbray said. “I pulled him in my office yesterday and said it's either Jack Clarke at left-back or we need you to step up.

"He was delighted. It's a huge credit to him, because he hasn't kicked a ball on the training pitch for five weeks.

"He came off with cramp near the end which is understandable, but that's the attitude and personality that you want in your footballers.

“Everyone will have been watching that on TV - his family and friends and what have you - and of course it could have gone the other way for him, but he was steady as a rock, doing his job, helping us get a clean sheet and great credit to him."

Sunderland also lost their captain Corry Evans in the first half, although Mowbray doesn’t think it’s a serious one at all.

"Corry took a knock on the outside of his knee,” Mowbray explained.

"Fingers crossed it will be fine. It's the FA Cup next week anyway so we will make a call on Corry, but it's just a knock I think - no damage to cartilage or ligaments.

"Corry is a big player for this team. If you think about the likes of Danny Batth, Corry Evans and Ross Stewart, they have experience and they are surrounded by some young kids. It's important we keep him fit and going in the big games."

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