Sunderland are hoping to seal a long-awaited return to the Premier League this month

Former Sunderland midfielder Don Hutchison has claimed that the Black Cats and another of his old clubs, Sheffield United, are the best two clubs in this season’s Championship play-offs.

The Black Cats and the Blades are already guaranteed a place in this month’s contest, and will be joined by either Bristol City, Coventry City, Millwall, Blackburn Rovers, or Middlesbrough, depending on how results pan out on the final day of the regular campaign this Saturday.

And in a recent interview, Hutchison was asked whether he believed that Sunderland, Sheffield United, and Coventry - who he also represented during his own playing career - have what it takes to survive in the Premier League if they are able to seal promotion alongside Leeds United and Burnley.

What did Don Hutchison say about Sunderland’s top flight credentials?

Speaking to goldenpanda.com the ex-Scotland international said: “I mean, no one's going to turn the promised land down. If you get to the Premier League, you're going to take it, you're going to bank the money and you're going to try and stay in the league. It's the most important thing.

“But we've seen with the three teams that have gone dead in the season, it's really, really hard. But it feels like, to me, it feels like Sheffield United and Sunderland are the best two teams, the two that would have a stronger chance of staying up next season than Coventry.

“If they get there with [Frank] Lampard, it's an amazing job that he's done. When he took over, they were close to the bottom three. So the job that he's done to try and get them into the play-offs is amazing. All three are my former sides, I'd like to see one of them try and make it for obvious reasons, but I feel as though Sheffield United and Sunderland are in a better place to try and stay in the Prem.”

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Gateshead-born Hutchison started his career at Hartlepool United before embarking on a long and storied stint in the English footballing pyramid. After subsequent spells with the likes of Liverpool and West Ham, he would sign for Sheffield United in 1996, before returning to Merseyside with Everton two years later.

Hutchison would spend the 2000/01 campaign at the Stadium of Light with Sunderland, helping the Black Cats to a second consecutive seventh-placed finish in the Premier League, before West Ham re-signed him at the end of the season for a club record fee of £5 million. Following a brief time with Millwall in 2005, the midfielder would round out his career with spells at Coventry and Luton Town.

Don Hutchinson was speaking on behalf of goldenpanda.com. For more information, visit https://www.goldenpanda8.com/en

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