'Absolutely': Lee Johnson delivers this verdict on the first half of Sunderland's League One campaign

The 3-0 win over Doncaster Rovers on Monday took the Black Cats back to the two points-per-game marker that is generally enough to secure automatic promotion if sustained over the full season.

The Black Cats would finish 2021 top of the table were they to beat Darren Moore's Sheffield Wednesday on Thursday night, though Rotherham United and Wigan Athletic would have games-in-hand on Johnson's side.

The head coach still believes his side have 'another gear' to find, a big part of which will be through strengthening their side in the January transfer window.

And given the scale of the change that happened to the squad over the course of the summer window, he feels the current progress is noteworthy.

"Absolutely [would have taken this]," he said.

"Especially when a lot of good players leave the club and you have to cut your cloth accordingly like most clubs have had to as a result of COVID-19.

"We've had to work wonders in the transfer market, lower the age of the squad, which comes with various challenges.

"There've been some real positives with that, as well, and that fearlessness has served us well I think.

"When you include cups we've won a lot of games this year. We've had losses as well and some bad ones, but sometimes that can be part of the process and how you progress."

Johnson praised his Sunderland squad for overcoming 'a lot of hurdles', particularly given that the late summer recruitment and recent injury crisis has required a number of players to operate outside of their natural positions.

"I think it's been brilliant in terms of the boy's application," Johnson said of the first half of the season.

"It can be easy to forget that we haven't had a free run at it.

"We recruited late because we had to, we lost a lot of players and had to build a new team, started the season with no senior full backs, there have been a lot of hurdles to leap over.

"We've just got on with it a group, the players have to do different roles, some of them play out of position, and we've stuck to the philosophy.

"There's clarity to that, so when we don't play well we know why, and we can have that laser focus on building it back up again.

"I've been really pleased.

"We're still being affected by historical issues on a daily basis, but there's a lot of good people pulling together in the right direction.

"It's going to be tough, no doubt about that, and we've got to fight for every inch.

"We've done that and that's why I'm pleased, and coming through that sticky patch we had tells me we've got a strong club."

Moore's Owls have not lost a League One game since November 2nd, but have not played since December 11th due to COVID-19 issues and have eight draws in that unbeaten run.

A message from the Football Clubs Editor

Our aim is to provide you with the best, most up-to-date and most informative Sunderland AFC coverage 365 days a year.

This depth of coverage costs, so to help us maintain the high-quality reporting that you are used to, please consider taking out a subscription to our new sports-only package here.

Your support is much appreciated. Richard Mennear, Football Clubs Editor