Sunderland ace George Dobson assesses the promotion race - and reveals why Coventry City, Portsmouth and Rotherham United should be wary

The Black Cats dropped out of the play-off places after defeat at Bristol Rovers in their final fixture before the EFL suspended all its competitions, but remain just three points behind second-placed Rotherham United.

And while it remains unclear whether the third tier season will be played to completion, Dobson believes that Sunderland will ‘come back firing’ in pursuit of automatic promotion should games kick-off once more.

“There’s so many teams in close proximity to each other, it’s literally anyone’s to take,” he said, speaking to Omni Sports.

“We had a couple of annoying results before lockdown which has put us in a bit of a trickier position, but we will come back firing and I think we can keep pushing towards the top-two spots.”

Promotion would provide the perfect end to Dobson’s debut campaign at the Stadium of Light – which has seen him become a key man under new manager Phil Parkinson.

But regardless of what happens, the midfielder remains happy on Wearside.

“[Jack] Ross brought me in and I’m forever thankful for him, but I was a bit in and out of the team which is understandable because the quality of players at the club is obviously very high,” Dobson admitted.

“When the new gaffer came in, he put a lot of faith in me and I’ve played loads of games so I’m really enjoying my time at the club.”