Hindsight is a wonderful thing and little over a season and a half ago, Sunderland couldn't have possibly envisaged where they'd be right now.

The players starring for them, Josh Maja, George Honeyman and Lynden Gooch, were all unlikely to taste top flight football. The Black Cats were a Premier League staple and even though they struggled every year, survival seemed to be attainable.

Now they're in League One, experiencing what many would call 'real' football. Tough, sparse grounds. Hard, organised teams. Bitterly cold nights in windswept corners of the UK they never thought they'd have to visit.

There are benefits from time in League One for big clubs. One only has to look at Southampton, Leicester and Wolves to understand how it can be a springboard.

Winning is a habit and focusing on developing players, not buying them, can pay dividends. Look at Southampton with Lallana or Leicester with Vardy. The same could happen for Gooch or Honeyman.

Had Sunderland not got rid of these three too early, they might just be thriving right now as well.

When they first got rid of Mandron, he was a fringe player whom very few of the fans were too bothered about.

As they've fallen, he's risen and he's currently with League Two Colchester, although he was linked with Utrecht and Peterborough in the summer.

Had he remained with the club, maybe they wouldn't have spent to much money on Charlie Wyke.

Danny Graham appeared to be coming to the end of his usefulness at Sunderland and was farmed out on a free transfer to Blackburn Rovers.

He's now scoring goals in the Championship having fired his side out of League One last season.

If the Black Cats had hung on to him he would have been a sure-fire hit at this level.

Bridcutt didn't impress at Sunderland, but as time has passed his sale to Leeds looks increasingly like bad business.

There's no doubt he would be a huge player right now for Jack Ross, perhaps his steel might have even prevented a slip out of the Championship.

That's the beauty of football, you just never know what impact a player may or may not have had.