Sunderland currently sit ninth in the Premier League table with 11 points

The Echo’s chief writer, Phil Smith, has delivered his verdict on Sunderland’s start to the Premier League season, claiming that the Black Cats have been “mightily impressive” despite some onlookers suggesting that they have had a fortunate run of fixtures to contend with.

Regis Le Bris’ men have lost just two of their opening seven matches, against Burnley and Manchester United, and have taken points from the likes of West Ham, Brentford, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, and Nottingham Forest.

Of that quintet, only Crystal Palace are currently in the top 12 of the Premier League, but nevertheless, Phil has been suitably impressed by the manner with which Sunderland have equipped themselves during the early stages of their long-awaited return to the Premier League.

What has Phil Smith said about Sunderland’s start to the Premier League campaign?

Speaking on the latest episode of The Roar podcast, brought to you by the Sunderland Echo, he said: “I think that probably one of the most promising things has been that spirit, if you like, that was there last season and that kind of got some results even when at times I think everyone was pretty open and acknowledging they weren't playing sparkling football. That seems to have continued and that's no mean feat when you bring in so many players and there's so much turnover in the squad, and obviously one of the things we discussed within the summer and the early weeks of the season was, you know, the players from last season who will be pretty frustrated that they haven't had more minutes and have had players coming in and taking their place. So, I think for there to be such an obvious strong team spirit still and such a resilience, despite all that change, I think it is mightily impressive.

“You can't have it both ways in terms of, we said before the season that this is a kind start but Sunderland would have to make the most of it. Ultimately we could be sitting here and going into the second international break saying, ‘Well hang on, we've only got a few points on the board, we're in the relegation zone, AFCON is coming up, two games against Man City in December is coming up’, and, you know, we'd be panicking.

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“So, I said earlier in the season it's all well and good saying it's a relatively easy fixture list - that is absolutely true, but if you look at what the promoted teams did in the last two seasons, they were losing these games against the so-called weaker teams. The big change to the Premier League this season is the teams who were never really too troubled by relegation in the last couple of years - Wolves, West Ham - a big part of that reason is because they were confidently and comfortably beating the promoted teams whenever they played them.

“So, it's a massive step forward for Sunderland to already be in that bracket where, you know, we're discussing whether it's a bit of an easy game to play against Villa out of form. They were games that Villa were winning easily. So, I think it's a huge credit to Sunderland and I think there should be a lot of excitement and a lot of pride on Wearside as long as there is that realism that there are going to be days like Saturday - there might be a few in a row in December. I think it's perfectly plausible to kind of see both aspects of that.”

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