TONY Mowbray has explained that the injury to Alex Pritchard led to his decision to switch his Sunderland full-backs for Wednesday night's win over Watford.

Pritchard missed the game with a calf injury, with Abdoullah Ba coming into the side on the right flank and Patrick Roberts shifting inside into the No.10 role. But it's coming off the right wing where Roberts is most dangerous, and although the former Manchester City forward started in a central role, Mowbray still wanted him to shift out wide.

And to give him more opportunity to do that, he made a tweak in the defence, moving Trai Hume from right-back to left-back and shifting Niall Huggins - who scored a stunning opener - the other way.

"It was mainly about our rotations and how we were going to get Jobe Bellingham higher up the pitch," Mowbray explained.

"Hume can play as a full back but also as the central midfielder, so we felt that was the way to get Bellingham up the pitch and as a result, get Roberts out to the right where he is so dangerous cutting onto his left foot.

"So we wanted to push Bellingham into the left ten position, and moving Hume was the best way to do it. We knew there would be no issues there, because he has done it in his last couple of international games for Northern Ireland. Niall is naturally right-sided, as well, so we felt it would help the balance of the team."

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Watford head coach Valerien Ismael, who was handed a contract extension on Tuesday, kept his players in the dressing room for more than an hour after the defeat at the Stadium of Light.

When he finally emerged, he said: “When you lose games you are not happy. I needed to have clarity with the players in the changing room. I wanted some answers, like why we came from a strong performance where we dominated a game and to this.

“The way we conceded the first goal showed we are not able to do the basics at the moment. That is frustrating.

“Sunderland are a team with a lot of confidence, they have started strong, we had to face that, but we were not good enough.

“I need answers from them and for them to understand they must focus on the game in two days. We needed a lot of time in the dressing room.

“We can’t continue to play like that. We need to change something and I need the answers from the players. If they can give me answers then they will be able to give me answers on Saturday.

“We got a lot of answers, everyone said something and I think we can work on that for the next game. Now it is all about Cardiff.

“The players need to step up and take responsibility and make sure we come back to our strength.”