Tony Mowbray says key Sunderland duo 'in danger of breaking down'
Tony Mowbray has explained his decision to bench Corry Evans and Alex Pritchard, saying it was a decision borne of concern over their levels of fatigue.
Evans and Pritchard have been key players for Sunderland this season, providing a vital element of experience and knowhow in an otherwise very young and raw team.
Dan Neil and Abduollah Ba, who have a combined age of 39, came into the side against Cardiff, and it became quite obvious quite early that Sunderland were losing the central midfield battle.
That led to Evans and Pritchard eventually coming on just before the hour mark, but they were unable to rescue the situation and the Black Cats sank to a 1-0 defeat that, in truth, flattered them a little.
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Mowbray took the brunt of the criticism after the game for his team selection, and he admitted afterwards that he probably got it wrong, but he says he made the decision to protect his key duo to prevent a longer absence.
"Less fatigue, more an injury caused by fatigue," said Mowbray. "We do wellness things and every day players get gauged on where they are, how they feel, what levels of fatigue they've got - red, amber, and green.
"We've got a lot of players who are in danger of breaking down. That's what the science tells us, not just me with my eye saying 'he looks a bit tired today'.
"It's to do with how they're sleeping, what they're eating, how much fluid they are taking on board, how much training and the intensity of it, it all adds up.
“You pick players and you have to trust them, that's why you have a squad rather than just 11, 12 or 13 footballers - you have 20 footballers and you have to trust all of them.”