Sunderland head coach Tony Mowbray has admitted that attacker Jewison Bennette will be frustrated by his game time for the Black Cats this season.

Bennette joined the Championship club back in the summer transfer window, arriving on a four-year deal from Herediano in his native Costa Rica.

Since then, the 18-year-old has gone on to make 17 appearances in all competitions for the Black Cats, scoring two goals and providing one assist in that time.

However, he has so far started just once for the club, in an FA Cup win over Shrewsbury Town back in January.

Now it seems as though Mowbray is aware that the attacker will have been hoping for more chances than that, but is keen to stress that those will come.

Speaking about Bennette's time at Sunderland so far, the Black Cats boss told The Chronicle: "Jewison deserves opportunities and he probably is a bit frustrated with his game time, but it's very difficult when Jack Clarke has scored as many as he has to tell him he's out of the team - we're trying to win matches.

"Jewison is a young boy with lots and lots of time and he just has to keep working hard, and we'll try and give him the game time [he needs].

"Then come pre-season, he has to show he's ready and should be in the team and then who is to say one day we don't find a recipe to get all of these players into the team."

Sunderland are currently ninth in the Championship table, five points adrift of the play-offs, although they have suffered defeats in their last two outings.

The Verdict

This does feel like a fair assessment of the situation around Bennette from Mowbray.

Ultimately, any player is going to want to play as much football as possible, and the 18-year-old has not been getting regular chances at Sunderland so far, so he may well be disappointed by that.

However, the form of others in his position makes it hard to justify making changes, given Mowbray's man priority in his job, is getting results for the club.

That being said, if this recent dip in form continues, you wonder whether he may be tempted to give an opportunity to Bennette, to see if that can bring about a change in fortune for Sunderland.