Former Sunderland man ‘most confident’ as Sheffield Wednesday come to town

The Owls will make the trip to the Stadium of Light on Friday as they look to get off to a good start in their two-legged affair against the Black Cats, but it will be a tough game in the North East as they go up against a side that have only lost four home games all season in League One.

And Elliott, who help Sunderland reach the Premier League by winning the Championship in 2004/05, believes that the way the season has gone for them in 2021/22 stands them in good stead ahead of their games against Darren Moore’s side.

In his column with the Sunderland Echo, Elliott said, “Out of all previous campaigns I have to admit this is the most confident I have been going into them.

“In the first two play-off campaigns the team limped into the play-off spots after seemingly being on for automatic promotion.

“This season, however, the team had to fight right until the last fixture to guarantee their position in the top six.

“So, instead of seeing the play-offs as some sort of bogey prize, it feels like it has been worked hard for.

“I’m hoping the good run of undefeated results under head coach Alex Neil will give the team the edge in these next two games too, starting with Sheffield Wednesday at home at the Stadium of Light on Friday night.

“I don’t doubt there are going to be many important moments on the pitch but I can’t explain how important having a huge support there on Friday will help the team.”

This season is the third time that Sunderland have reached the Play-Offs during their four year stint in League One since relegation from the Championship, however they finished as runners-up in 2018/19 and lost in the semifinals last season as they twice missed out on promotion.

This season they’ll be hoping to overcome their play-off hoodoo - but will first have to get past a difficult Wednesday team that are aiming for an immediate return to the second tier.

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