Sunderland midfielder: We have to give fans hope for next season in final three games

The 22-year-old returned to the starting XI in the 2-0 win over Hull last weekend and impressed in an attacking midfield role.

The Black Cats took over 2,500 fans to the KCom stadium and they were in defiant mood just one week after relegation.

Honeyman says the celebrations after the win were a big incentive ahead of next season.

He said: “There’s always going to tension with where we are and the results we’ve been getting, no matter what the performance is like. They sell out every week away from home, it feels amazing to give them something, you see them at the end and you do think, I wish we could give them this every week.

“That’s the key, we need to give them a bit of hope for next season, build some momentum. They’ll feel better about next season if we can put in some good performances.”

Honeyman is now looking to buuld momentum ahead of next season, where is looks set to be an important player, likely to trigger a contract extension against Swansea on Saturday.

He said: “It feels too little too late, it doesn’t matter about winning in terms of our league position.

“I think we have put in some good performances but thankfully on Saturday we were able to put the ball in the back of the net.

“We stopped them from scoring and put it the other end, it is simple really. As the gaffer said, we just need to build some momentum and get some wins ahead of next season.”