Former Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips says Alex Neil is "too shrewd" to underestimate the recruitment that will be needed to compete in the Championship.
Sunderland were promoted to the Championship at the weekend after beating Wycombe at Wembley in the League One play-off final. The goals came from Elliot Embleton and Ross Stewart.
After four long years in League One, the planning must now start for how they will not just compete in the Championship, but also survive. Phillips, who was working for Sky Sports, predicted that Neil would get it right.
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Phillips said: "It’s alway a tough one isn’t it, and we’ve seen it when clubs have gone up from the Championship to the Premier League, and managers have thought, 'Well you've got us here, you deserve that chance.' And ultimately they haven't been good enough and it’s cost the manager their job.
"I think Alex Neil is too shrewd for that. He’s been around a while. He’s been in the Premier League, he’s been in the Championship, so he’ll know. He will have had his targets already for if they get to the Championship.
"He will have targets, not tomorrow, maybe the next day he will give that list to the head of recruitment, whoever that is, and say, 'Go get me those players.' And it will be interesting just financially, whether they can go and get them."
Phillips was optimistic about the squad Sunderland already have though. He also said the spine of the team in particular looked solid.
Phillips said: "Ultimately they will need to strengthen in certain areas and I think when you look to put a squad together when you go up a league, the obvious one's are probably down the spine of the team. But I think when you look at Sunderland’s squad down the spine of the team at the moment, it looks fairly solid.
"Corry Evans in the middle there, Luke O'Nien, you've got obviously Ross Stewart up top. You've got Bailey [Wright] and Danny Batth who have both got experience.
"But ultimately there will be players that will leave the football club and there will be players that come in. The Championship is another level so they are going to need a bit more quality."
