Sunderland fan favourite Micky Gray does not believe the play-offs are too far from the Black Cats' reach this season. Alex Neil has played down any talk of pushing for promotion earlier this week, admitting that there's a big step up from League One.
Nonetheless, the Wearsiders have lost just once under the Scotsman in competitive fixtures and their strong end of season form is cause for optimism heading into this season. Speaking to BetfredTV, Gray said: “You can’t look any further than Norwich. They look strong this season. Dean Smith will obviously want to get himself back into the Premier League as quickly as he possibly can.
“I think you look at Watford under Rob Edwards. Yes, they’ve signed a few foreign players but it just depends whether they can keep hold of their star players like [Ismaïla] Sarr and [Emmanuel] Dennis. If they can do that, they’ve got every chance of bouncing straight back up into the Premier League.
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“But I think there might be a couple of surprises in there this season. They’ll be a handful of clubs. Clubs maybe like Middlesbrough, Sheffield United, West Bromwich Albion - I know they’ve signed younger players, got rid of a load of experienced guys so it just depends on what Steve Bruce can do in the Championship.
“But, look, the list is long. I mean look at some of the sides that got promoted from League One - one being my old club Sunderland. They’ve kept the influx of their players. They’ve signed a couple of new signings, and I’m optimistic.
"I think a play-off position isn’t out of the way for Sunderland. I think you look at Wigan, they’ve obviously got big backers at the club now. They played some great stuff last season.
"So they’re the type of sides you look at to finish in those play-off spots. But, again, it’s going to be so intense. It’s going to be a side that can get a little bit of momentum going.
"I think you always look at that December/ January period, and if sides can go on a run of seven, eight, nine games unbeaten, they give themselves a real fighting chance of getting into those play-off positions. But it’s going to be fought so hard until that final whistle like it always is and it’s not going to let anybody down. It’s a great league.”
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