Sheffield Wednesday man delivers interesting Sunderland verdict ahead of League One play-offs

The Black Cats will host the Owls in the first leg at the Stadium of Light on Friday, before the return leg at Hillsborough three days later.

Sunderland beat Wednesday 5-0 when the teams last met on Wearside in December – although the Owls were recovering from a Covid-19 outbreak – while Darren Moore’s side won 3-0 in November’s reverse fixture.

Indeed, Wednesday’s George Byers says that his team’s last trip to Sunderland was ‘nowhere near’ an acceptable level as the Owls suffered a heavy defeat.

Speaking to the media, Byers said, “It’s going to be a tough game - they’re a good side with good players, but we’re a good side with good players as well. It’ll be tough, but we’ll go into confident and if we stick to our game plan and know what we’re good at, then hopefully we’ll get the job done.

“I think we’re level over both games… It was 3-0 at home when we won, so I wouldn’t say we owe them one, but obviously the last game was nowhere near the levels that we’re capable of playing.”

Byers continued: “As I said before, we need to stick to the gameplay that’s set out for us, and if we stick to what we’re good at then we know what we’re capable of.

“They’re massive games, the play-offs. They’re what you want to play in as a player, big games like these. I’m looking forward to it.”