Tony Mowbray: Sunderland boss enticed by potential reward of promotion riches
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Amad Diallo's (centre) Sunderland form might mean Man Utd look to a Premier League loan for next season
Championship play-offs first-leg: Sunderland v Luton Town |
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Venue: Stadium of Light, Sunderland Date: Saturday, 13 May Kick-off: 17:30 BST Coverage: BBC Radio Newcastle, BBC 3CR and live text commentary on BBC Sport website and app |
Sunderland's place in the Championship play-offs this season could be a unique opportunity to accelerate their rebuild, says boss Tony Mowbray.
The Black Cats only ended four seasons in League One with play-off victory last season, following back-to-back relegations from the Premier League.
Top-flight promotion could be worth about £90m - a huge financial boost - and a return after six seasons away.
"It's never too soon to get to the Premier League," Mowbray said.
"It has the riches to build your club faster. So even if you go up and come down you have greater resource and much greater parachute payments to keep bringing in better players.
"At the moment, with the finances of the Championship, it's going to take a few more windows to grow the football club."
There is though some caution from Mowbray, who has often played down the notion of promotion this term, should they be successful.
The youthful make-up of Sunderland's squad is a positive, with talent such as Jack Clarke and Patrick Roberts playing key roles alongside Dan Neil and Trai Hume.
Edouard Michut has been a smart signing for Sunderland, on loan from French giants PSG
However, re-signing loanees such as Manchester United's dynamic forward Amad Diallo and Paris Saint Germain midfielder Edouard Michut would not be a given, particularly following impressive seasons.
"I don't say we're going to the Premier League and we will rip it up and be great," Mowbray added.
"Every game is a massive event and every team has players that can damage you."
The dip from Premier League to Championship, and then into League One, meant a huge turnover of players, drastic cost-cutting off the field and re-imagining of ambitions and goals for Sunderland.
It also meant reduced income, once parachute payments finished, while multiple changes of ownership highlighted just how much of an investment it was to run a club of Sunderland's size.
Their potential, with a 46,000-seat stadium, passionate catchment area and legacy of elite level football, means the infrastructure is there, while there is also an eye to the future with a squad with an average age of 23.4 years.
Luton provide major obstacle to any ambitions
Standing in the way of any Sunderland return to the Premier League are Luton, who have been a hugely consistent feature of the Championship in the past two seasons.
The Hatters have picked up 155 points from a possible 276, with 42 wins from 96 matches over the past two regular season campaigns.
Jack Clarke and Cody Drameh enjoyed a tussle during Sunderland's 1-1 draw with Luton in March
They come into the knock-out stage of the competition unbeaten in 14 games, having not lost since going down 1-0 at home to champions Burnley in February.
However, Sunderland themselves have come up on the rails to reach the top six, unbeaten in nine games, including a 1-1 draw with their play-off opponents.
Injuries could be the Black Cats' Achilles heel, with Dan Ballard, Danny Batth, Aji Alese and possibly Dennis Cirkin and Lynden Gooch among the defensive absentees.
"Hopefully we have a little bit of momentum and will have some choices to make on the selection of the team. It's nine games since we've been defeated," Mowbray told BBC Radio Newcastle.
"Let's see how it goes. What I do know is that the second game at Luton will be tough because it's a tight, small ground and they get the ball forward early and put a lot of people in the box. It's scary at times so it will be an interesting two matches.
"It's a bit daunting but we will play these - potentially - three games and see how it goes. But I can't see beyond these games with Luton because they are an amazing team.
"They are like comrades and they fight for every loose ball. We can do that as well and have some talented individuals who can unlock defences so it's quite an intriguing game."