Mel Reay offers exciting Sunderland update and discusses title challenge following major announcement

Mel Reay says Sunderland are looking to futureproof their 'special' team after announcing a new contract for midfielder Natasha Fenton.

Fenton is one of a number of summer additions who have helped transform the side from relegation candidates last year to firm title contenders with five games of the current Championship campaign to go. Sunderland are currently planning for the prospect of both Championship and WSL football next season, and while Reay admits that is presenting the club with some challenges, she says their position is strong and that Fenton's renewal is unlikely to be the last.

"Natasha was a big summer target for us and it took a lot of work to get it over the line, so I'm absolutely delighted with her contribution this season," Reay said.

"She's pivotal to how we play, she's probably played the most minutes and games, the most assists in the whole squad. She's been instrumental in terms of her leadership skills and we're absolutely delighted that she's committed her future to us because she's a really special player.

"We want to future proof the team and if we can get deals done early before the end of the season, it gives us less work to do come the summer. Hopefully Natasha is just the first one that we get over the line, we've got a very special group of players, we've got five games to go and we might be planning for the Championship, there's a possibility of the WSL. They probably both look very different in terms of what we might need to do in the summer, so for the meantime we just take it one game at a time on the pitch.

"It's a difficult task and we have to be patient with our processes, we don't know which path we're going to go down so we have to keep our cards quite close to our chest," Reay added.

"A lot of our players are under contract so we don't need to worry about a lot of the squad. It is difficult [to plan] and so you just take it one game at a time, but as we get closer to the end of the season it might become a little clearer."

Sunderland head into the weekend fixtures top of the table, but Reay insists no one is getting carried away as they prepare to face a London City side fighting for their Championship future.

"It's an exciting time to be a Sunderland player, we've got this game at London City and then the derby game which I'm sure will be a sell out," Reay said.

"The teams in and amongst us have got to play each other as well so I'm sure there's going to be a lot of twists and turns before the end of April, so as much as it's cliche we just have to look after ourselves and make sure we're doing all the right things so that we're there when it comes to the end of the season. We have to focus on the next game, you just have to go back to the Lewes game - we were so close to coming away with absolutely nothing from that.

"There's certainly no easy game at this level, teams are fighting to either stay in the league or get out of it and so you have to be right at it. We have to be the best version of Sunderland to get anything, they've recently appointed a new manager so there's a different style of playing and we don't know too much about they'll have set up - so it's about focusing on ourselves and doing what we need to do."