Sunderland have made a strong start on their return to the Premier League following an eight-year absence

Trai Hume has reflected on the club's positive start to the Premier League campaign and praised Sunderland's new arrivals for building on the positive atmosphere in the dressing room from last season.

Despite losing 2-0 to Manchester United at Old Trafford in their last fixture before the international break, the Black Cats have given their prospects of survival a significant early boost by taking 11 points from their first seven fixtures. Hume said the dressing room need to stick together after the disappointment of the last defeat but is confident they will do exactly that.

“The start to the season has been good," Hume said.

"We’re disappointed that we’ve lost at Man Utd but overall we’ve done well. At home we’ve won games and we’ve drawn and even away we’ve got a draw and a win at tough places. One of those was today but we had a slow start and they’re 2-0 up at half time. We need to stick together and be positive.

"You’ve got to be together no matter what level you play at. You’ve got to believe in what you’re doing. All the new lads who have come in and bought into that, they’ve been excellent to be fair to them. They’ve bought into it, what Sunderland is and what we want to do. that’s all you can ask. We’ve obviously lost at Man Utd but we’re still together. I think the lads who were here last season have stuck to what we do, not much has changed. We’ve stuck to our standards and our philosophy.”

Hume said the dressing room weren't setting any expectations for the season ahead but had demonstrated their belief that they can compete at the level.

"We don’t really talk about expectations, we go game by game," Hume said.

We want to take three points wherever we go and obviously at home. We don’t really think about games ahead or where we are in the league, we just focus on the game coming up. If you start slowly in the Championship you can probably stay in the game, start slowly here and you’re 2-0 down and it’s hard to get back in the game. those little details. That’s the level we’re at. We know as a team and a staff we started slowly and they were far better than us and probably deserved to come in 2-0 up. If we’d stuck to the level that we’re at in the second half, it could have been a different game. But like I said, it’s on us."

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Sunderland announce departure of key behind-scenes figure

Sunderland have announced the departure of Stuart Harvey, their head of recruitment for the last four years and a key part of their rise back to the Premier League.

In a statement, Sunderland said a mutual decision had been made following talks across recent months, and thanked Harvey for his ‘tireless’ efforts over the summer transfer window. Sporting director Kristjaan Speakman said Harvey had been a key part of the club’s recent success and that he would always be welcome at the Stadium of Light moving forward.

“Stuart has made a significant contribution to Sunderland AFC throughout his time at the Club,” Speakman said.

“His professionalism, expertise, and dedication have been evident throughout, and he has played a key part in our progress in recent years. He worked tirelessly through the summer to ensure continuity and consistency in our recruitment processes, and he leaves with our gratitude and best wishes for the future. Stuart will always be welcome back at the Stadium of Light.”

Harvey leaves having played a key role in building an exciting young squad that turned around the club’s on-pitch fortunes and helped take a significant step on the path to financial stability. Sunderland’s off-pitch operation has been in a period of significant transition following promotion to the Premier League, with Florent Ghisolfi arriving as director of football in the summer.

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