Sunderland returned to winning ways on Friday night, picking up all three points away at Sheffield Wednesday in front of the Sky Sports cameras.
It certainly wasn’t pretty, but Sunderland showed their promotion credentials with a hard-fought 2-1 win away at Sheffield Wednesday on Friday night, with Eliezer Mayenda scoring a brace against the Owls for a second time this season.
Sunderland’s win against Sheffield Wednesday marks a return to winning ways after back-to-back defeats for the first time under Regis Le Bris this in the Championship this season, with the Black Cats now three points behind Burnley in 3rd place of the table, and five behind Sheffield United in 2nd.
Perhaps more impressive is the fact that Sunderland have a 14 point cushion between themselves in 4th and Tony Mowbray’s West Brom in 5th, and Blackburn Rovers in 6th, and with 11 games left to play, it’s starting to look inevitable that Sunderland claim a place in the play-offs.
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Gary Bennett’s Sunderland play-off verdict after Sheffield Wednesday
If Sunderland claim a spot in the top six this season then it’d be a second time in three seasons, since their return to the Championship, that the Black Cats have achieved the feat. That 2022/23 season under Mowbray saw Sunderland secure their play-off spot on the final day of the season.
They did so finishing on 69 points. After Friday night’s win at Hillsborough, the Black Cats now have 65 points on the board. Speaking on Total Sport after the game, BBC pundit and former Sunderland man Gary Bennett revealed that he thinks just two more wins will see the Black Cats into the play-offs.
He explained: “The main thing which Sunderland need to do is cement that play-off spot… A couple more wins and I think that will be enough to cement that play-off spot, and then see where that takes us.”
Automatic promotion hopes not over for Sunderland
Whilst the focus may now be on a play-off finish, there remains a very definite chance that the Black Cats can achieve top two, especially after that win at Wednesday which could really build some momentum.
It’d certainly depend on the likes of Burnley and Sheffield United dropping points with Leeds United looking unstoppable on their way to the title. And Sunderland have some winnable fixtures coming up.
The Black Cats host Cardiff City and Preston in their next two games and if Le Bris’ side can take maximum points from those games then 2nd place might all of a sudden be a lot closer.
Anything could happen, but like Bennett says, Sunderland just need to keep on picking up points to secure a play-off spot at the very least.