'I think' - Alex Neil's truthful response when asked about Sunderland's promotion chances and Millwall game

Alex Neil provided an in-depth interview following Sunderland’s clash with Millwall at the Stadium of Light on Saturday - and delivered his view on his former club’s Championship promotion chances.

Sunderland won the contest 1-0 after Trai Hume’s first-half goal. Luke O’Nien has the opportunity to put the Black Cats further ahead in the second stanza but missed a penalty towards the end of the game. The result means Régis Le Bris’ side remains 15th points clear of seventh-placed Middlesbrough, with a play-off campaign highly likely.

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Neil, of course, knows all about winning the play-offs with Sunderland, having guided the Wearsiders through the League One post-season campaign, with wins coming against Sheffield Wednesday and Wycombe Wanderers to return the Black Cats to the Championship after a four-season absence,

Alex Neil assesses Sunderland’s Championship promotion credentials

“I think that at the moment you've probably got the three main teams that are running away with it, if you like,” Neil said when asked about the play-off picture in the Championship. “But I think Sunderland are where they are on merit. I think that offensively they're very, very good. They've got some really good individuals and I think that those individuals can win you any game that you play in. Because they're capable of skipping past somebody and putting one in the far corner, which I'm sure you guys have seen a lot this season. You've got a striker that scores you goals, which you always need.

“And I think you've got a really good core and spine. So yeah, it'll be a competition for anybody in the play-offs. It'll just be on the day. I think every squad needs an element of experience. I don't think you need loads of experience. I just think you need enough know-how to make sure you can get through some vital games. And those guys are crucial. As well as developing younger players, which this club has been great at.”

Alex Neil delivers thoughts on Sunderland vs Millwall

“I thought there were some bright moments, especially towards the end,” Neil added on the game, “But it didn't quite happen unfortunately. I think that Sunderland as a team are very good in terms of attacking. I think they're pretty much across the league, they'll be in the top five metrics. Final third in terms of creating chances, shots at goal, goals scored, all that sort of stuff, so they're a good side. I think we got a scare in the first minute, Isidor gets down the side, Lucas makes a great save with his feet.

“And then to be fair, I thought we had good control in the first half, but without really being threatening. I thought we were too safe, we were passing, I didn't think we moved the ball well enough at times to get into the final third and cause some issues. And we spoke about that at length at half-time. I thought we had probably less control in the second half, I thought they probably started a little bit better. But I thought, if you look at Sunderland for me, stop Isidor getting down the sides and getting in behind you, because he's a real threat, we did that in the main.

“Stop the two wide players coming inside you and opening the goal up and getting their shots away, I thought we stopped that in the main. So if you lose the game in one of those instances, it's how most teams get beat against Sunderland. So to lose it on a set play, when we're a big, strong unit, that's really frustrating. That's probably my biggest disappointment. And then like you say, we threw caution to the wind a little bit, went a lot more direct towards the end of the game, had a couple of opportunities. But not enough for us, really, in the match.

“To come here to give Sunderland a good game and be in the game right until the end, I think it's not easy to do, because they're a good side. I think if you look at us at the moment, we've got a lot of forward players missing just now, so it doesn't help us in terms of that final third end product that we need. And I think when you play against a Sunderland side, you need to be able to scare them. You need guys at the top end of the pitch that can skip past them and cause them problems. I didn't think we had enough of that today.

“I thought their front players looked more threatening and get into more areas in the game. But like you say, we're a gritty team, we stayed in it to the last. We kept on going and we got a couple of little sniffs towards the end that we could have got ourselves back into the match, but unfortunately, it wasn't to be. I thought it was a reasonable performance for the team. I wasn't displeased with our performance, I was probably more displeased in the manner in which we lost the game, which was the set-play.”

Alex Neil delivers Sunderland squad verdict after Millwall game

“No, absolutely not,” Neil responded when asked if he was surprised to see most of his Sunderland team from League One still intact in the Championship. “Because I think a lot of the players, all their best years were ahead of them, weren't they?

“There were a lot of young lads in there, and they're now two or three years more experienced. They're better for it. They've experienced play-offs. They've experienced getting up. They've had loads of experience in their career, and some of them are still really quite young. That was always the plan, in terms of building that squad. So, no, not at all.”