Dan Neil has hailed the work Sunderland have done so far in the transfer window by keeping together the core of players that won promotion last season. The Black Cats agreed new terms with Lynden Gooch, Bailey Wright and Patrick Roberts and have since signed Jack Clarke on a permanent deal.
The quartet were all regular starters under Alex Neil as Sunderland ended their Championship hiatus with a win over Wycombe Wanderers at Wembley. While their work is far from done, with the Black Cats short on options up front, the midfielder was pleased to see Roberts and Clarke return to the Stadium of Light.
"Yeah, 100 per cent," he said. "Obviously they came in during January and by the end of the season they were quite big personalities in the dressing room - a bit like the core of the dressing room.
