Sunderland maintained their unbeaten start to the League One campaign this past weekend after coming from behind to draw with Fleetwood Town.

Four wins and three draws for Jack Ross and his men have seen them rise to fourth in the table, four points off the summit of the third-tier.

The start to the season has been a breath of fresh air for a Black Cats side who have had nothing but gloom and despair in recent years.

There have been a number of decisions made, and several factors have been out of the club’s hands as to why the club find themselves where they are.

Ross has had plenty of situations where he needs to make up his mind for the benefit of the club after his appointment in the summer.

But with that said, here are two decisions that Sunderland have made that could come back to haunt the club.

A contract was offered in the summer under previous owners, but since the appointment of Jack Ross, and even into this stage of the season, there have been no further discussions.

Josh Maja has scored five goals so far this season and is Sunderland’s top goal scorer. The longer they leave it, the less likely he is to sign a new deal.

The 19-year-old has had a sensational start to life in League One, and the club might have wished they tied him down sooner with the upturn in personal form undoubtedly set to alert clubs higher up the food chain.

The Papy Djilobodji saga continues at Sunderland with the defender back after a self-imposed 72-day exile, and with legal issues pending, could work out to be an expensive problem.

The club should have cut ties in the summer regardless of interest or lack thereof, and seen the 29-year-old exit the Stadium of Light.

The decision not to and now finding themselves wrangled in legal issues to determine how the club can deal with the problem.

That decision is at present haunting the League one side and could well d,o more so in the immediate future, with the cost and aggravation of it all.