Sunderland push for championship promotion amid final vs Wycombe

Sunderland FC has now; been in league one for five years and has struggled with achieving automatic promotion. This year again, the black cats missed out on the top two spots but still finished in the top six with promotion still viable through the play-offs. They faced Sheffield Wednesday in the Semi-finals, which proved tough competition.

The home leg had an amazing atmosphere with fans in full voice as they came away 1-0 victors. The away leg proved more difficult where Wednesday managed to take them to extra time before Jack Clarkes cross was met by Patrick Roberts to give Sunderland the hard-fought victory.

Manger Alex Neil was delighted with the man stating, “I thought it was no more than we deserved… I thought we defended extremely well, but we didn’t set out to be defensive. I’m just over the moon for the players because they deserve it.”

“We’ve done the business with an unbelievable run of fixtures in terms of the results we’ve put together, and all these players deserve a huge amount of credit.”

Sheffield Wednesday, on the other hand were ‘gutted’ as manager Darren Moore states: “My concern for me is my players because they’re gutted in there.”

“I’m really disappointed for them because they put a lot into the game and, having got back into the game, it looked like we were going to go on and force a winner.”

A place in the final was where the club found themselves three years ago in 2019, where they were ultimately defeated 2-1 by Charlton Athletic. A new manager and a new team with a more defensively solid base this time around have the fans optimistic. They face a familiar opponent in Wycombe, who they managed to beat in the FA trophy in 2019 during the Covid- 19 lockdown.

It will be a difficult challenge for the black cats who have been in this position before. The fans are one of the most passionate in the country and will have big expectations of finally making it back to the championship and ultimately working their way back to the premier league that is where they belong due to the stature and history of the club. However, the fight and the never die-attitude the players showed in the semi-finals; puts them in good stead heading into the final on Saturday.

It’s always a big occasion for any fan base to go to Wembley stadium and will be the same for It’s always a big occasion for any fan base to go to Wembley Stadium and will be the same for Sunderland fans this weekend hoping it will be one to remember. It’s a chance for fans to travel to the capital and have a good day out supporting the team they grew up loving. I got a chance to speak to one fan Adam Gill who has followed the team, home and away all; season and will be there at Wembley to support his team; he’s optimistic but nervous, as we assume most fans will be.