TONY Mowbray wants Jordan Willis to kick-start his career again after explaining Sunderland's decision to allow the defender to leave the club.

Willis made 60 appearances for the Black Cats after joining from Coventry City in 2019 but a ruptured patella tendon was the start of a two-year injury nightmare for the 28-year-old.

Despite his contract expiring last summer, Willis stayed with the club to continue his rehab at the Academy of Light, but has now left Sunderland in search of a new deal and regular football elsewhere.

The defender has been offered the opportunity to train with League One side Forest Green and Mowbray, who knows Willis well from their time together at Coventry, says the defender needs to play regularly somewhere so he can "overcome the scars" of his injury nightmare.

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Mowbray said: “I had Jordan at Coventry City and he was very good. He got a move to a very big football club. Whilst I didn’t see him play for Sunderland, I know what he would bring but he has picked up some bad injuries.

“Our conversations over the last few weeks is that I feel he is at a level now where he ended up training over the last couple of weeks with the first-team. I feel that he needs to go and play now and get his career started again. Go and train with a first-team everyday and show the manager that you warrant a place in his team.

“That is what we decided. It was a tough ask particularly with the central defenders and the right-backs that we have. There didn’t seem a very obvious route for him.

“I think it was for the best. He’s fit but he has to overcome the mental scars of a long term injury and then once he does that, through repetition of training, hopefully he gets into the game scenarios, forgets about injuries and is the best version of himself.”

Willis's last appearance for Sunderland came almost two years ago in a League One game at Shrewsbury, who the Black Cats face in the FA Cup third round on Saturday.