Sunderland: Jobe Bellingham on striker role & Coventry game
HIS double ensured Sunderland came from behind to beat Rotherham and get off the mark for the season, but makeshift striker Jobe Bellingham was delighted to hear Tony Mowbray confirm his stint up-top would be short-lived.
Mowbray started without a recognised striker in his line-up against the Millers on Saturday and used summer recruit Bellingham in an unfamiliar attacking role, with the ex-Birmingham man bagging a brace.
But with the Black Cats on the verge of signing a new frontman, the head coach confirmed he plans to shift the teenager back into midfield – which was music to the ears of the youngster.
“I’m glad about that because I do enjoy playing in midfield much more,” smiled Bellingham.
“Wherever he asks me to play I’m going to play. I used to play there (up-front) all the time as a kid.
“It’s a different challenge and you have to adapt. That’s what the best teams and best players do, whatever the game is asking you have to do it. But I don’t really fancy playing nine.”
Bellingham has made an impressive start to life at the Stadium of Light and although he was the hero on Saturday thanks to his double, he was left reflecting on what might have been after missing opportunities to bag a hat-trick.
He said: “Scoring two was a bit of a shock because I haven’t scored before, but at the same time it wasn’t a shock because we create so many chances and get in the final third so much.
“In the first two games we’ve played well in most spells but putting the ball in the back of the net is the hardest thing in football.
“It was my first two goals in professional football and for this great club so I’m delighted.”
Seven days earlier, a Bellingham mistake had led to a Preston goal in Sunderland’s defeat at Deepdale, and the midfielder admits that error did play on his mind in the days that followed.
“That’s football, I’m trying to develop and learn. It’s the first time I’ve played this many games so I’m just trying to adapt,” he says.
“Preston did play on my mind but in the second half of the week you forget about it and look to the next game. It can’t linger on your mind, you have to clear your mind and get ready for the next challenge.”
Sunderland’s next challenge is a tough trip to last season’s beaten play-off finalists Coventry City this coming Saturday.
“That will be tough,” says Bellingham.
“They play nice football but they’re intense and in your face as well. Coventry fans were rocking last season because of how well they were doing.”