'For sure...' - Ex-Championship striker insists Sunderland are 'still in conversation' for automatic promotion

Former Championship striker Cameron Jerome has insisted that Sunderland are still “in the conversation” for automatic promotion this season, despite a pair of damaging results against Leeds United and Hull City last week.

The Black Cats were beaten in stoppage time at Elland Road on Monday night, before slumping to a second consecutive defeat at the hands of the Tigers on home soil on Saturday lunchtime.

As a consequence, Regis Le Bris’ side now find themselves eight points adrift of the top two, with Leeds having come from behind to beat Sheffield United in another late victory yesterday evening. But despite the considerable gap between Sunderland and the sides above them, Jerome is of the opinion that they cannot be entirely ruled out of the running just yet.

Speaking on EFL All Access (11:20), when asked if the Black Cats could still win automatic promotion this term, the ex-Norwich City star said: “Yes, still Sunderland, because I think they are a good side. I have watched them a lot this year. They are young and energetic; the crowd up there at the Stadium of Light gets rocking; it is a fabulous place to play.

“I think they are ten points [13 points after Leeds United’s win on Monday] off the top of the table; that is, two or three games and that can happen in a week in the EFL, so they are still in the conversation for sure.”

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Addressing Sunderland’s automatic promotion hopes in the aftermath of their defeat against Hull City at the weekend, Black Cats stalwart Luke O’Nien told a post-match press conference: “It's a game-by-game. What we do, the systems we play, every game we play, we've got to evolve and maybe we didn't do that today, but tomorrow will be a big day for us where the team will get better if we watch it. I've said it from the start of the season, from the very first game. We’ve won games and been at the top to where we are at the minute right now.

“There's a hell of a lot of work to do. When you win a game, if you go into first or second, it's irrelevant. It's where you are on the 46th game that's the most important. So there's a lot of minutes to be played, a lot of points to get picked up and our focus isn't just to win a game, look at the table and get all emotional. It's win, lose, reflect, make sure the team moves forward and go towards the next game.”

At the time of writing, Sunderland are currently fourth in the Championship table, with Burnley six points ahead of the Black Cats in third. The next outing for Le Bris and his team comes against Sheffield Wednesday on Friday night at Hillsborough.

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