Sunderland are just 90 minutes away from ending eight years of pain without the Premier League, as they prepare for the Championship play-off final against Sheffield United on Saturday.
It was a dismal end to the season for the Black Cats, as they struggled to maintain any sort of form heading into the play-offs and it looked as though all hope was lost against an exciting Coventry City side in the semi-final.
However, after a 2-1 victory at the CBS Arena, Regis Le Bris’ side went into the second leg with the advantage. The Sky Blues did send the game to extra-time, but Dan Ballard’s inch-perfect header secured the Wearsiders their place at Wembley in the last minute of the clash.
Nevertheless, this season could have been so much more for Sunderland, and if they are not successful in the final, they may just rue their drop-off in form that halted their momentum in the final months of the season.
Don Goodman explains what went wrong for Sunderland this season
While the goal for the Black Cats this season was never expected to be promotion, they did let go of the excellent position that they found themselves in over the winter, and eventually they finished 24 points off the top two.
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
It could have been a very different story had Sunderland held their nerve, and the battle for the automatic spots would have been fought for between four different teams – but supporters will have to settle for the Championship play-offs.
Former Black Cats player and current Sky Sports pundit, Don Goodman, has pinpointed where it all went wrong for his former side this season. He said: “I really liked them up until middle of February when they went to Elland Road and lost 2-1, and obviously that was two very late goals.
“Pascal Struijk, I recall, came on as a sub and scored from two set pieces to kind of break their hearts.
“But I do think that that was the moment where Sunderland truly knew that they weren’t going to be challenging for the top two.”
“I think that made the gap eight, nine, 10 points even. And they didn’t deal with it. They’re a very, very young group and it clearly affected their morale, their mentality and their form just nosedived a little bit.
“Once the play-off place was secure, Regis Le Bris obviously rotated quite a lot, he gave some younger youngsters a bit of game time. I’ve never seen anything like it, frankly, losing five games going into a play-off campaign. I’ve never seen that before in my life.”
The ex-Sunderland ace continued: “Yet they found a way in the play-off semi-final. So getting back to your point, I actually really liked what I saw through to that Leeds game. I saw a really dynamic team that could play in different ways, carried a real threat, lots of pace, lots of energy.
“They turned up in the big games. So both games against Leeds, both games against Burnley, both games against Sheffield United. They lost a couple of those games, but they turned up and they performed.
“So I do think they’re a good team. It was a strange end to the season, but I think beating Coventry the way they did, I think it will give them a lift.”
Sheffield United will be full of confidence heading into the final
With Sunderland’s struggles at the end of the season, Sheffield United will head into the final with full belief that they can inflict further pain on their opponents and return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
The Black Cats ran out 2-1 winners over the Blades in January, and Chris Wilder will be keen to get revenge for that defeat, but Le Bris has plenty of young quality in his team who will be ready to prove themselves at Wembley.
Sunderland have to put all the pressure onto the Blades, and if they can hit them early, then they may just be able to seal their dream of a Premier League return.