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.
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"Pat has a lot of experience from his career, Danny Batth, people like that. I think it was important to get that core group of players together that got us promoted. A few additions on the side with Dan [Ballard] and Aji [Alese]."
The arrival of Dan Ballard from Arsenal is quite the coup for the Black Cats, with the defender tipped for big things, while Aji Alese's signing took people by surprise.
"Really well," Neil said when asked how the new boys were fitting in. "Obviously Dan [Ballard] has been here for a bit longer now so he's a lot more settled. Aji [Alese] looks like he's enjoying it and he's been getting minutes in pre-season and is looking good. They've been looking good and settling in."
Another name tipped for a return to Wearside this summer is Nathan Broadhead. His fine performances in a red and white shirt saw him called up to the Wales squad this summer, with injury unfortunately ruling him out of Rob Page's squad.
When asked if he'd like to see Broadhead return to the Stadium of Light this summer, Neil said: "I mean, personally, I hope so. I haven't spoken to him in a while. I don't know, we'll see what happens and see if he wants to come back or not."
Sunderland are just days away from the season opener against Coventry City and Neil admits that pre-season has been tough, but a good opportunity for the head coach to get his ideas across. Neil said: "It's been good. It was tough for the gaffer when he first came in because he came into a squad that was low on confidence and he had to get us going straight away.
"There was no chance to develop players or get his way of going about things [across]. He had to find a solution to get us promoted but now, he's had a pre-season where he's been able to implement his own ideas and bring in the players that he wants to bring in. I think everyone has benefitted from it. Everyone is looking good, everyone is looking sharp. We're looking forward to Sunday."
For the Sunderland midfielder, the Championship would be the highest level he's played at so far in his career and the die hard red and white supporter is looking to add to his minutes last season.
"It would be unbelievable," Neil added when asked about playing against Coventry this weekend. "Like I said the goal was always to get back to the Championship, so to then play for Sunderland in the Championship it would be a dream. We'll see what happens, it's another hard working week and we'll see what happens on Sunday."
The Black Cats are riding the crest of a wave having won promotion back to the second tier of English football, having lost just one competitive fixture under Alex Neil since the Scots arrival.
When asked if there was some pressure off the shoulders as a result of last season's success, Neil said: "Yes and no. Yes, because we've just come up from League One.
"I know that some fans think that staying up would just be enough, but then I know there's a lot of fans that will expect a little bit more than that. When you play for a big club like Sunderland, there's always pressure.
"Whether you're in League One, Championship of Premier League. I think that's the best thing about it, what's the point if there's no pressure? That's what makes the wins unbelievable and the losses unbearable. That's just Sunderland and what you have to deal with if you want to play for a club this size."
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