Former Sunderland star Wes Brown has backed the Black Cats '100 percent' to make a play-off push this season under his old boss Tony Mowbray - but warns that star striker Ross Stewart could be on the move in the summer. The Wearsiders have made an impressive return to the Championship after winning promotion from League One last season via the play-offs to end their four-year stay in the third tier.
Sunderland's weekend win against Middlesbrough at the Stadium of Light lifted them to ninth place but, so tight is the table, they are just a single point outside the play-off spots. After a glittering career at Old Trafford which saw Brown win two Champions League winners' medals, five Premier League titles, two FA Cups and two League Cups, Brown joined Sunderland in 2011 and spent five years on Wearside before moving to Blackburn.
Mowbray took over at Ewood Park in 2017, with Brown leaving later that year. "Sunderland can 100 percent mount a play-off push but they need to get a run of wins together," said Brown.
READ MORE: Sunderland's promotion bid a sure reminder for Ross Stewart amid contract talks
"They've got a great manager in Tony Mowbray who I played under at Blackburn and he knows what he's up against. Sunderland are a team, for me, that need to be pushing for the top six."
Sunderland's promotion last season was powered by Stewart's 26 goals, and the Scotland international has continued in the same vein this term and has scored ten Championship goals already despite missing three-and-a-half months of the campaign through injury. That has attracted interest from a series of clubs including Scottish giants Rangers, who made an attempt to sign him last summer.
Stewart has another 18 months left on his contract and the club is continuing to talk to his representative about a new deal, but so far nothing has been agreed. Brown, who was talking to Casinos En Ligne, said: "Rangers would be a step up from Sunderland [if Stewart was to go there].
"They're in the Champions League. I think he could have an opportunity somewhere else in the summer - he's definitely got the ability and drive for it."
Aside from Stewart another key figure for Sunderland this season has been on-loan Manchester United forward Amad, who has proved himself one of the brightest talents in the Championship. Amad will spend the rest of the season with the Black Cats, but Brown believes that next season the 20-year-old will be given a chance by Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag to show what he can do at Old Trafford.
Brown said: "Amad has a future at Man United. He'll get another chance, whether it's in pre-season or at the beginning of the season. It's all about ability and a little bit of luck with the big teams.
"You can see he's got talent and he's done really well at Sunderland and now it's about showing whether he can push past the current players that are at Man United. He will definitely get another chance at Man United."
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