AS Joe Gelhardt considered his options in the January transfer window and weighed up a move to Sunderland, one of his questions for Tony Mowbray was how much football he'd play.

It was an understandable query.

For while Gelhardt was one of the most sought-after loan signings in January, his availability sparking a fierce Championship transfer battle, with Ross Stewart fit and firing in goals most weeks, the Leeds youngster wanted to know Mowbray's plans for his forward line and how he'd fit in.

"I told him that if his talent was what I believe it is, we'll find a way - we'll play two up front, or whatever," explained Mowbray.

That is no longer a dilemma the Sunderland boss will need to wrestle with in the second half of the season.

Stewart's season-ending injury leaves Gelhardt as Sunderland's lone striker. And while the loss of their top scorer is obviously a major setback for the Black Cats, opportunity now knocks for Gelhardt - and he's ready to rise to the challenge, starting at Millwall this afternoon.

"He's not going to think it's great Ross is injured but in his mind as a young guy, he's seeing an opportunity and I'm pretty sure he'll try and grab it with both hands," said Mowbray.

"This kid now knows the opportunity is there right in front of him. He's just excited and he wants to play.

"We just hope he stays fit and enjoys his football and develops and grows into the player he can become himself in the next 10 to 12 years.

"For Joffy [Gelhardt], he will now feel he is going to play. We are going to be relying on him to score goals, he has to get into the box - and yet he does want to come to the ball and show how direct and strong and powerful he is.

"We're all excited to see how he fits in with Amad and Pat [Roberts] and Jack [Clarke]. We need to keep him fit, strong and robust."

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Mowbray knows it's not ideal to only be able to call upon one striker in the second half of the season, but Sunderland managed to cope earlier in the campaign when Stewart and Ellis Simms were both injured and the head coach believes the Black Cats are better equipped this time around, with Gelhardt now in the squad and the versatile Amad in blistering form.

He said: "It seems a negative that we go into this period with one out-and-out striker, yet if that one out-and-out striker knows that he's the man and takes on the burden and scores goals, he'll be a huge success.

"The negative with one striker is that at any given moment it could be a disaster for us, yet we have been through that already - we had a long time without any strikers, yet we didn't fall off a cliff, we won some games, we scored some goals, and we can do that again.

"In that period, Amad hadn't made the breakthrough into being established. He was still a bit shy and quiet around the building, but he is now a confident kid who knows he is important to the team so he can play high up the pitch if required. I don't sit here thinking we are really short."

Dennis Cirkin and midfielder Alex Pritchard have both travelled to London with the squad ahead of the Millwall game after recovering from their injuries, while new signing Joe Anderson could be on the bench. Isaac Lihadji is still in the process of being registered and had a meeting yesterday afternoon.