Sunderland fan blog: This is why fans are feeling so optimistic about the start to the season with tougher challenges against Ipswich, Portsmouth and Sheffield Wednesday to come

Just look at the League One table, and you can easily see why fans are optimistic about their scintillating start to the new season.

First-place, two points ahead of second-placed Wigan Athletic, and all five of their wins have come against sides that currently occupy the top nine.

The Black Cats have conquered Wigan, Wycombe, MK Dons, AFC Wimbledon and Accrington, with all posing different challenges to Lee Johnson's side, but there have been challenges that they have passed with flying colours.

For fans, this is the basis of their optimism.

The Black Cats haven't played the so-called "weaker" sides in the division yet, but so far, they also haven't faced the bookies' favourites - the likes of Ipswich, Portsmouth and Sheffield Wednesday.

On Saturday, they came up against the league's pre-match second-place in John Coleman's Accrington Stanley and it led to a nervy encounter at times but one where based on their second-half chances, the home side should have had it wrapped up long before the full-time whistle.

The Accrington boss believed his side should have took a point away from the Stadium of Light, at a bare minimum, and in consideration to the amount of chances they had and pressure within the final third, arguably they should have.

But in attack they simply lacked that touch that separates the winners and losers.

For Sunderland, they proved to be the winners for another occasion.

It is, however, early days.

A League One season isn't won over the course of the first six matches - it's a 46-game season and a gruelling year for every team but a positive start helps to ease any animosity with the fans surrounding their club.

First-place after six matches isn't the League One already won for Sunderland but it's the first step to that goal.

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