Michael Gray recalls his brilliant and telling memory of Super Kev's first day at Sunderland

Gray was in conversation with Sky Sports presenter and non-executive director David Jones, who is interviewing former players during the postponement of League One fixtures.

Phillips arrived at the club after three years at Watford, and Gray admits he was something of an unknown quantity at the time.

He would go on to score over 30 goals in his first season, ultimately becoming one of the club’s greatest players of the modern era.

“I always remember, and this is the thing about Sunderland at the time,” Gray said.

“We didn't really have stars.

“Niall Quinn was obviously the biggest name in the dressing room and we'd followed Niall's career because he'd been very successful.

“When Kevin walked through the door, we didn't know what to expect.

“The first day of training, there's always that bit of banter going on, everyone had said their hellos.

“We had a shooting competition at the end of training, as a lot of clubs do.

“It was me or one of the other lads, we said to him 'you know there's big expectations on you to hit the back of the net, don't you?'

“He just said, 'watch this'.

“I've never seen anything like it until this day. The finishing was just incredible.

“I just said, 'I hope you do that on matchday'.

“He was just sensational and what a partnership.

“As good as he was, the experience of Niall, it was just an automatic click and it worked.

“You forget about half the goals, the angles he would [score from], the bravery he would show to get on the end of things.

“But he wasn't just a finisher, he was a complete player.”

Gray himself made well over 300 appearances for the club during one of its most successful periods, and was also capped by England during his time playing for his hometown club.