Stewart Donald reacts to Sunderland's new-look stadium in passionate message to fans

Fans helped to install over 31,000 seats at the stadium, following up on Donald's promise to reinvigorate the deteriorating appearance of the stadium after he took control of the club in the summer.

Long gone are the faded 'pink' seats, with fans the club officials alike delighted with the new look of the stadium.

Donald, too, is delighted by the success of the seat change operation which has seen players and fans come together to engineer the transformation.

LIVE: Action, reaction and analysis from Sunderland's trip to Port Vale

And the Black Cats' chief lavished praise on fans, many of whom returned for multiple visits, while claiming the ground looks better than he ever could have imaged.

"I'm delighted, it's even better than I thought it would be," admitted Donald, speaking to the club's YouTube channel.

"You don't realise how bad it was, really, until you see how good it looks now.

MORE: Sir Bob Murray slams Ellis Short in explosive rant

"It looks absolutely fantastic and I'm delighted with how everyone has responded to it.

"The players have done some and some fans have been back loads of times to do it and it's absolutely fantastic.

"I'm just so grateful for everyone to have got behind it and done it and given up their time.

"They seem to have enjoyed it and it's gone the way I wanted it to go, because by doing it people feel involved in the club and like they're giving back to it.

READ: Jack Ross on Bali Mumba's progression amid transfer links

"Hopefully in years to come, they can come back to the ground and know that it's down to them that it looks the way that it does."

Donald also revealed that the club are now looking at the concourses and areas outside the ground as they look to implement further improvements.