Sunderland star confident Black Cats have the 'quality' for promotion push

After nine games, Sunderland are top of the Championship. Can they sustain that level for the whole season, though? One player certainly believes so.

Eliezer Mayenda - Sunderland striker / IMAGO / Colorsport

Eliezer Mayenda says he believes Sunderland have the quality to mount a sustained promotion bid this season.

The Black Cats currently sit top of the Championship after winning 19 points fron their first nine games, and they have been genuinely impressive in the vast majority of them.

Even in the two games they lost – at Plymouth and Watford – Sunderland could and probably should have taken something home with them based on their performances.

It’s all a far cry from last season, the aa slump int the second half of the season under Michael Beale and Mike Dodds was so pronounced it left many supporters concerned a decline had set in.

That shocking second half to last season also has many wondering if a promotion bid is truly sustainable or whether Sunderland are just essentially having a short-term new manager bounce under Regis Le Bris.

Mayenda acknowledges there is a lot more work to do be done and an awful lot for Sunderland to prove, but he is confident that they can maintain their levels.

“Every supporter wants to see us back in the Premier League” he told the official club website. “It won’t be easy, but this team has the quality to push for that this season and be in a strong position.

“We’ll play another 40 games so the season is long, but we have good quality in defence, midfield and attack. Patto is amazing in goal too. We need to believe in ourselves. We need to be confident in every game.

“Our ambition is to get to the Premier League, but we need to work to get there. We work very well in training every day. It’s a good start this season but we need to keep going. Everyone has the same objective and I believe in my teammates.

“Last season, I said that we need to be patient with team because it is really young. I am playing more games, we have more quality, the gaffer is a good coach, and he knows what we need in this team.”