Alex Pritchard has little time for the hackneyed notion that a club of Sunderland's stature should not be languishing in League One. "Everyone says that, and I understand why, but the reality is that the club is in League One and it has been for four years - that's the situation," the midfielder sighs as he looks at the floor in a spartan sideroom at the Academy of Light.
Raising his head to make direct eye contact and in a determined voice, he adds: "It's up to us to change that situation."
And that is the nub of it, as Sunderland head to Wembley for this weekend's League One play-off final against Wycombe Wanderers. After three failed play-off bids in the last four seasons already, nothing can be taken for granted.
