SUNDERLAND once again showed there is life after Ross Stewart as three different players got on the scoresheet in their 3-1 win at ten-man Queens Park Rangers.

The Scottish striker, who scored 11 goals in 15 games last season, completed a deadline-day move to Championship rivals Southampton but a fortnight on from that transfer, the Black Cats put on a clinical display against the Hoops at Loftus Road.

Early on, it looked like they were missing the cutting edge of Stewart, Amad Diallo and Ellis Simms, who contributed more than 30 goals in all competitions last term, as Kenneth Paal gave the Rs the lead in the 12th minute with a 20-yard strike.

But the tide turned in the visitors’ favour when former Sunderland midfielder Jack Colback was sent off because of a reckless challenge on Jobe Bellingham in the 21st minute, and they landed another telling blow when winger Jack Clarke’s deflected strike flew in deep into first-half stoppage time.

Tony Mowbray’s side were the dominant force in the second half against the tiring hosts and defender Dan Ballard tapped in from close range after wonderful interplay from substitutes Alex Pritchard and Patrick Roberts.

And winger Abdoullah Ba completed the comeback as he swept home Adil Aouchiche’s back-post cross in fine fashion. Sunderland could have won by a bigger margin had Roberts and Luis Hemir taken gilt-edged chances late on, but this match still highlighted how the Black Cats have goal threats across the pitch.

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When asked if he felt his current squad could chip in with goals across the board, Mowbray told the Northern Echo: “We have talked about that a lot.

"I moan to the club really. Take Amad’s 14 goals out. I was just worried, who is going to score the 70 goals (a season)? If you are going to finish in the top six you are going to have to score between 60-70 goals and I genuinely couldn’t see a goal in our team.

“Clarke might score six or seven, if he has a good season he might get ten, but who else is going to score? Patrick might get three or four, that is why I was moaning, ‘Where are our strikers?’.

“Who is going to the goals that are going to allow us to win football matches to get enough points to get in the top six? We have lost Amad’s goals, Clarke as a winger might not score double figures again this season. Who is going to score?”

Sunderland scored 68 goals as they finished sixth in the regular season last term. With Stewart, Amad, and Simms no longer at their disposal, Mowbray pointed to the likes of Chelsea loanee Mason Burstow and fellow forward Hemir as potential goal threats.

“So, we have signed Mason Burstow, we’ve signed Nazariy Rusyn, a Ukranian kid who looks fast and sharp but he is not fit yet and doesn’t have a visa. We put some attacking players into our team and it gives me the opportunity to play with or without strikers,” he added.

“We’ve obviously got the big lad (Hemir) who should have scored late on. He is working on his fitness at the moment. He’s come from Portugal. I don’t think they run in Portugal, they just play. He is learning how to play in our team and he is going to be a threat as he can hit the back of the net and he is 6ft 4in and can score with headers as well as rifling it in with that bazooka of a left foot.

“We are working through together and I have to assess when they are ready or not, ready to start. Alex Pritchard is generally the first change because he can play ten or six, he can control the game, and he can put lovely balls into the box.

“Whilst we get the other young players up to speed with how we play, Mason Burstow is probably the one that we give the first opportunity to. I thought he worked hard but he doesn’t really know how we play.

“We have had two training sessions with him, he was away with England Under-20s at St George’s. It is really difficult to fit him into our pattern of play with two training sessions, one of them being 40 minutes on the day before we travelled.

"Hopefully, we will get there and we will have enough players that can contribute to the 60-70 goals we need to score this year to get anywhere where we need to be.”