Fan blog: Phil Parkinson has work to do with Sunderland squad but promotion push is a marathon not a sprint
Quite ironically, both of those games came against Bristol Rovers.
During that time period, fans were left to think over what would have happened if the season had been able to resume, as they were ordered to stay at home.
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Hide AdAt first, the delay was only planned for three weeks, but the COVID-19 situation got worse and there was no more 2019-2020 League One football; the only exception being the play-offs.
As August began with no league football, fans of every club in Leagues One and Two were counting down the days to watching their beloved side again.
That day came on Saturday, when Sunderland kicked off the League One season with a 1-1 draw against Bristol Rovers.
Some supporters may be very sceptical about where a draw against a side that finished 14th under the controversial PPG system, leaves the Black Cats. In theory, we are only one game into a 46 match league season, and there is a lot of football left to play.
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Hide AdYes, Phil Parkinson has work to do with the team, so that they are in the best position for the battle for the automatic promotion place, as this season more than ever, we need to be at our very best, just in case a situation like last season reoccurs again.
On Saturday, Sunderland face a 500-mile round trip to Oxfordshire to face the beaten play-off finalists, Oxford United.
We should expect a tough encounter, as Oxford have been a tough cookie to crack during Sunderland's three seasons in League One; only winning one out of five matches, but fingers crossed, we will be able to do it.
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