Leeds United youngster Joe Gelhardt ‘low on confidence’ as Sunderland boss sympathises with ‘burden’

Gelhardt swapped Elland Road for the Stadium of Light in January as he aimed to develop further as a young centre-forward but the original plan Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray had for the 20-year-old was scuppered almost immediately after injury to striker Ross Stewart.

The Black Cats’ imposing frontman picked up an Achilles’ injury just days after Gelhardt’s loan had been confirmed, and the north east club’s inability to bring in another forward before the transfer deadline meant the Leeds youngster was left as the club’s only recognised striker.

Mowbray has sympathised with the England youth international who broke onto the scene as an impact sub in Leeds’ Premier League survival last season, stating that the role he has been forced to use Gelhardt in, is less than optimal for his skillset.

"When I first met him I talked about what his preferred role was," Mowbray is quoted as saying, by the Northern Echo.

"We talked about him as a nine-and-a-half really, which means he's happy to play 10, he's happy to play wide, he's happy to play down the middle. And yet it wasn't the intention to put such a young guy as the main man down the middle.

"The plan was to play off a centre-forward really because I feel when I watched his best clips at Leeds when he's been on the pitch playing in the Premier League, he sort of buzzes around the main guy and dives into little spaces.”

Stewart is out until the end of the season, meaning Gelhardt’s appetite for regular minutes will be satisfied during his loan spell, but the way in which he likely envisaged playing for Sunderland has changed.

"In an ideal world, the main guy moves them [opposition defenders] out the way and Joe dives in and buries it in the bottom corner. At the moment he's the main focus of the defenders and it's a different role for him,” Mowbray added.

"In these next 11 games I said to him he has to try and stay robust and fit and strong and try and rebuild some confidence, because I do think his confidence is pretty low at the moment.

"The burden on him is he has to generally start because he's the only striker we have who is close to being a nine."

Gelhardt has scored once and picked up two assists in his eight Championship appearances for the Black Cats, including setting up Abdoullah Ba for the winner against Norwich City last weekend. He remains contracted to Leeds until the summer of 2027 and is expected to return to a first-team role at Elland Road upon the expiry of his Sunderland loan.