David Jones explains why Stewart Donald's decision to sell doesn't affect his Sunderland position

Jones joined the board last month following the departures of Charlie Methven and Tony Davison.

A Black Cats fan, Jones is eager to make a significant impact as the club tries to bounce back from a difficult period, and says any potential new owner would judge him on the work he does in the coming weeks and months.

“I don't have a great, long history with Stewart,” Jones told BBC Newcastle.

“I reached out when he became Chairman at Sunderland because I knew of him from my time at Oxford United.

“[So] whether he stays or goes doesn't affect whether I want to be involved at the club, because it's my club.

“It was a very easy decision to say yes to [the offer]. It was a club in crisis, we're not out of the waters yet by any stretch but I'd like to think we've hit rock bottom and now the only way is up, by making good decisions and following best practice in all areas.

“For that, you need to employ the best people across the board, you need to be functioning properly, you need systems in place.

“You need to plan ahead which you can only do with the right working practices and for me football is all about being one step ahead. No department is more important for that than recruitment.

“It doesn’t affect my position as far as I’m concerned,” he added.

“When I was at Oxford, working for Darryl Eales, the club was bought by a Thai consortium led by a guy called Tiger.

“He wanted me to stay on, but I decided it was probably the right time for me to step away from that.

“It will depend entirely on who buys the club, if and when that happens, and whether they want me around.

"I suppose I would say that they would have to judge me on the work that I do between now and then and the influence that I have been able to have."