FOR the first time this season, Tony Mowbray had all four of his strikers fit and training together during the international break.

Now, the Sunderland head coach is hoping it "clicks" for his centre-forwards as the Black Cats approach a crucial spell in the season.

Nazariy Rusyn, Mason Burstow, Hemir and Eliezer Mayenda are yet to manage a goal between them this season. It hasn't yet proved costly for the Black Cats. Despite the strikers' struggle for goals, only three Championship teams have outscored Sunderland so far this term.

But it goes without saying Mowbray - who has been relatively satisfied with the performances of his strikers on the whole - hopes his frontmen soon catch fire.

Rusyn has started the last three games, created a goal in the win over Birmingham last time out and looks set to keep his place in the team at Plymouth this afternoon.

But Mayenda is now in the mix after making his debut from the bench against Birmingham, Burstow - who had a run of games earlier in the season - is awaiting another opportunity and Hemir is also an option.

"They're all a bit different," said Mowbray.

"We can do drills with the forwards these days and we've had plenty of times over the last year or so where we haven't been able to do that.

"Now, when we do attacking drills we're hoping they can finish things off and score goals.

"As long as they work hard and listen and want to learn and watch their clips back, I am more than happy to give them opportunities to try and help us win football matches.

"But all those things have to happen, they have to want to work hard, they have to listen and think about how we play. It's difficult if you've been playing for a team that play in a certain way to change your habits.

"Hopefully the goals will come for them all. It would be a great scenario if we can get the strikers scoring pretty regularly and at this moment that's not been the case, but we haven't been short of goals, we scored three in the last game.

"I'm pretty sure it will click soon, they were pretty close in the last game."

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Mowbray and his coaching team are working closely with the group of young, relatively inexperienced strikers in training every day.

"You don't stop every session every time you see something like Hemir making one run across the front post, he keeps going and he can't score, he's gone past the post," said Mowbray.

"You want to stop the session and show him but that's why every session is recorded by drones and the coaches will tell him after the session, 'you have to make double movements, you can't keep running past the post, how are you going to score when you've gone five or 10 yards past the post and the ball is coming in?'

"It's just a learning process."