Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray sets Premier League goal ahead of Ipswich Championship opener

  • Tony Mowbray looks ahead to the new season

Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray has made clear that he wants his side to claim promotion to the Premier League ahead of their Championship opener against Ipswich Town.

The Black Cats earned themselves in a spot the playoffs last year and are desperate to go one step further and return to the Premier League in the coming campaign.

The club surged into the Championship top six towards the end of last season, winning plaudits for their expansive brand of attacking football.

Mowbray hopes to maintain that form against Ipswich as they seek to return to the top tier of English football for the first time since 2017.

"We are striving to get to the Premier League," Mowbray told ITV Tyne Tees. "We are trying to build the club back again.

"Ipswich play really attractive football and hopefully we can rediscover the form of last season and make it a great game."

Tony Mowbray has shared his excitement over the start of the new Championship season. Credit: PA

It has been a summer of change at the Stadium of Light with seven new faces coming in while the club have also had to deal with Amad Diallo's return to Manchester United.

Despite this, the Mowbray said he was "excited" for the new season praising the club's pre-season tour of America for bringing his squad together.

"It's good that we went to the US to integrate them in," Mowbray said. "We lived together for two weeks with the players getting used to the new players and vice versa. We saw real benefits of that.

"It's exciting any start of any football season's exciting and new lads have integrated well with the squad."

Securing promotion back to the Premier League will be no easy feat with this season's Championship billed as one of the most competitive in recent history. Leicester, Leeds and Southampton each come down to the division with big budgets while Ipswich, Norwich and North East rivals Middlesbrough are also expected to challenge at the top.

Amad Diallo has returned to Manchester United Credit: PA

Naturally, goals will be crucial if the Black Cats will have any chance of success this season but the striker position is one that the club have had little depth in recent months.

The fitness of talisman Ross Stewart is therefore vital. The Scotsman scored 11 goals in 15 before suffering a serious Achilles injury in January but Mowbray indicated that he now has a target date for his return.

"Ross spoke to me today, he is hoping by the end of September," Mowbray explained. "It is around eight weeks away but at least he has got a target date.

"It'll be really exciting to see Ross back on the pitch. If we can get him to play 20 to 25 games for us this season it will be really interesting to see how many he can score."

Ross Stewart has been absent since January with an Achilles injury. Credit: PA

In the meantime, the goalscoring burden may fall on the shoulders of new arrival Luis Semedo, starting with the match against Ipswich this weekend.

It is a fixture close to Mowbray's heart after he finished his career with the Tractor Boys but there will be no time for sentiment on Sunday with the 59-year-old keen to start well as he looks to go one better than the success of last season.

He called on his players to deliver for the fans and reward their unwavering loyalty.

"It's important that the team play for the supporters and make sure that they don't leave anything on the pitch," Mowbray said. "They have to give everything every game and win lose or draw.

"Their support is appreciated. A young team was fighting really hard for their club to try and get back to the Premier League.

"We'll give it our very best shot this year and hopefully the fans will enjoy the journey again."

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