Former Sunderland star Ally McCoist believes Sunderland can have a tilt at the play-offs in their first season back in the Championship. The Black Cats won promotion from League One via the play-offs in May and have made a solid start to life in the second tier.
They were in the top ten going into yesterday's game at Blackburn Rovers, and even defeat at Ewood Park only saw them slip to 12th - four points shy of the play-off places. McCoist spent two seasons at Roker Park in the early 1980s, scoring nine goals in 65 appearances, also backed Sunderland head coach Tony Mowbray as a 'safe pair of hands' to bring some stability to the club following Alex Neil's shock departure at the end of August.
"Do you know something, you see that league, I love it!" said the ex-Scotland striker, who was speaking to Grosvenor Sport. "I can't tell you how much I love the Championship and I think there's absolutely no reason why Sunderland can't get into the play-off places.
