Mel Reay reveals Sunderland summer recruitment plans and delivers verdict on 'rollercoaster' season

Mel Reay says Sunderland have already begun their summer recruitment drive as they look to build on another solid Championship campaign.

The Black Cats ended their league campaign on a high with back-to-back wins over Bristol City and Sheffield United, securing a seventh-placed finish. A strong run of form before Christmas ensured the club’s second-tier status was never in threat after a rocky start to the campaign, and Reay says there will be significant additions to the squad this summer.

While the club are still in the process of finalising who will stay out of the current squad, a large number of departures is considered unlikely.

"There'll be some good new additions," Reay said.

"We're probably looking at about five new recruits to strengthen the team but we'll see as the off-season progresses what we need down the line. Those conversations have already started behind the scenes.

"We're in a good place with the squad we have. It's always down to the players in terms of whether they accept contract offers and things but they've all played a part this season and I don't see there being a massive upheaval to be fair."

Promotion from within will also be a key part of Sunderland’s squad-building for next season, with Mary Corbyn and Libbi McInnes set for prominent roles after breakthrough campaigns this time around.

"We are traditionally a club that gives young players a chance and we're known for that really,” Reay said.

“I'm delighted for Mary in terms of the fact that she's not been in the game for a long time, so for her to catch up the group as quickly as she has done is credit to her. I'm delighted for Peggy [Libbi McInnes], she has made a big contribution and stepped up. We've had good conversations with her as the season has progressed, honing in on some of the things that we wanted her to do which she's taken on board. I think the next one is Emily Cassap, this has been a different season for her in that she's trained with us all season but played regularly in the academy side on a Wednesday. She will turn 18 this summer and she'll be the next one to transition from education to full-time football."

Mel Reay delivers verdict on Sunderland’s season as a whole

Ready admitted that there was some frustration that Sunderland had not been able to sustain a title push for as long as they had in the previous campaign, but was pleased with the strong response to the slow start of the campaign and a very lucrative FA Cup run.

In a league growing stronger by the season, Reay believes there is real grounds for optimism.

"The start was frustrating off the back of a good pre-season in terms of performances and result, we weren't expecting that," Reay said.

"But the squad then showed a lot of resilience, I think it was seven unbeaten before Christmas. Then we had an injury to Eleanor [Dale] which was an obvious low point, and it's been a little bit of a rollercoaster towards the end. We had a good FA Cup win, which was a real positive. It's part of the journey, I suppose. The season leading up to Christmas, we were in the race and we were close. When you tail away from the top, it maybe becomes difficult when players become disheartened when you're not in the race. Maybe that can have a negative impact but it's such a tough league, especially this league where we've had two less games as well. In a 20-game season, before you know it you are at the halfway stage and you have to be ruthless in your decision making.

"It's frustrating at times that we haven't finished as high as we did last season but there are a lot of contributing factors towards that. I think sustaining ourselves as a good Championship team is really important and it gives us a good platform to build on going into next season."