Tony Mowbray praised Jobe Bellingham’s willingess to learn after his first senior goals powered Sunderland’s 2-1 comeback win against Rotherham.
Bellingham’s brace helped overturn Hakeem Odoffin’s early goal and secure a welcome win for the Stadium of Light crowd.
Mowbray admitted afterwards that the 17-year-old was disappointed not to land a hat-trick and praised him for his efforts after being moved up front early in the game.
The Black Cats head coach, who also revealed that the club are on the brink of making a breakthrough in the transfer market, believes getting on the board at the first time of asking was an important step for his team after a frustrating start to the campaign.
“It’s important we got the win as it can weigh heavy,” Mowbray said.
“I think we’ve been unfortunate not to get anything from two games having dominated, and I thought we deserved to win today.
“I think Jobe is disappointed he didn’t get more goals. He had a couple of good chances but he’s in the six-yard box and playing the role we’re asking him to play.
“He had to show good flexibility today because we pushed him higher up the pitch, and he got the goals for us.
“His greatest asset is he wants to learn, he’s asking us coaches questions every single day. He’s a joy to work with.”
Mowbray confirmed that Bellingham’s striker role will be brief, with a new arrival from the loan market imminent.
“I’m hoping we’ll have a striker in soon,” he said.
Rotherham boss Matt Taylor believes his club must strengthen in the closing stages of the transfer window as their wait for a first win continues.
The Millers, who have one point from their first three fixtures, saw goalscorer Odoffin limp out of the contest not long after his impressive strike gave his side the lead.
Taylor admits his squad are struggling physically and need more if they are to improve their form.
“Hakeem has picked up a muscle injury. He scored a really good goal and then limped off, that’s where we are,” Taylor said.
“It’s a culmination of playing so much of the start of the season with 10 men against good quality opposition. They’re really low at the moment in terms of their physical attributes and they’re at risk.
“We’ll keep on working, we’ve got offers out to players and we’re mainly waiting for the loan market. We need to get our injured players back as well, we’re almost at double figures and that’s not manageable.
“It’s incredible, so we need to improve that first and foremost and then look to the market.”
Taylor also called for greater consistency after seeing just five minutes stoppage time awarded at the end of the loss to Sunderland.
The Rotherham boss was booked for his protestations and said there must be greater consistency in how added time is decided.
“I’ll get in trouble again because the fourth official says it’s the referee timekeeping, the fourth official says it’s the referee,” Taylor said.
“We played five minutes on the back of the six substitution stops and an injury where all 22 players come over for a drink.
“Five minutes, given what we’ve seen this season, is absolutely incredible. I wasn’t asking for 10 or 12 but five was incredible.”
Southampton 3-1 West Brom (3-1 agg): Saints set up play-off final with Leeds United
Southampton saw off West Brom 3-1 at St Mary's on Friday to set up a Championship play-off final showdown with Leeds United.
Leeds thumped Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road 24 hours earlier to book their place at Wembley, where Southampton now await on May 26.
The first leg between the Saints and West Brom finished goalless - just like the other semi-final - but the home side's quality told in the end.
Russell Martin's side dominated the first-half possession, with David Brooks going closest to scoring with a shot that hit the outside of the post.
Southampton made the breakthrough via a powerful Will Smallbone finish four minutes into the second half after Gray Diangana lost possession.
Darnell Furlong had a shot helped over by Alex McCarthy, while David Brooks - who assisted the opener - had a strong penalty appeal rejected.
Southampton remained in control, though, and Adam Armstrong scored a second with a shot through Furlong's legs and past Alex Palmer.
Armstrong's second goal arrived from the penalty spot in the 86th minute after Tom Fellows fouled Ryan Manning in the box, rendering Cedric Kipre's late header a mere consolation.
Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Hilal: Mitrovic scores last-gasp penalty
Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a penalty in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time as Al-Hilal denied Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr victory in a 1-1 draw.
Mitrovic netted his 27th Saudi Pro League goal of the campaign after Sadio Mane was harshly judged to have fouled Saud Abdulhamid in the area.
Mane stuck out an arm to shield the ball, catching his opponent in the throat, though the contact appeared to have been outside of the box.
Mitrovic made no mistake to keep Al-Hilal's unbeaten campaign going.
The Serbian's spot-kick cancelled out Otavio's first-minute opener, with Ronaldo having set up his compatriot.
Champions Al-Hilal remain 12 points clear of Al-Nassr at the summit of the Pro League standings.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo the provider
Ronaldo leads the scoring charts in Saudi Arabia this season, though he had to settle for an assist on Friday.
That came from the only chance he created, with the 39-year-old limited to 25 touches, though he did have four shots.
Leeds' belief never wavered as Wembley beckons
Ethan Ampadu said Leeds United's players never let their belief waver despite a poor end to their Championship campaign, with a trip to Wembley now coming up.
Leeds will face either Southampton or West Brom in the play-off final on May 26 after thrashing Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road on Thursday.
The Whites endured a miserable end to their campaign, losing 4-0 at Queens Park Rangers before going down at home to Southampton on the final day, as Ipswich Town claimed automatic promotion behind Leicester City.
But after their emphatic defeat of the Canaries, who they drew with 0-0 in the first leg, Ampadu claimed Leeds never lost their way.
"Towards the end of the season there was a lot of talk about how we were playing, how we weren't on the front foot, how we weren't aggressive or clinical," he told Sky Sports.
"But we always had our belief that on our day, when we are firing, we can be hard for anyone to play against.
"When the front four, five, six play like that, they make the job of us defenders a lot easier.
"Whoever we play in the final it's going to be a hard game but to go in like this, to put in a performance like this, we can take momentum and confidence into it.
"The fans were second to none and we enjoyed their support – now we are going to prepare for the big one."
Georginio Rutter scored one and set up another in the rout, and he put the onus on Leeds to replicate the same level at Wembley.
"It's incredible. Today we go to Wembley," he said.
"We played a good game. I'm happy, everybody is happy. One more game and we will see.
"We played very good. 4-0 is a clean sheet. Today, we were mature. It's a very good performance from the team.
"I want to try my best and help the team. If we play like this [at the final], we have a good chance but we have to play like this."
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