After narrowly missing out on promotion to the Championship last season, the pressure is well and truly on Sunderland to succeed during the current campaign.
Yet despite bolstering their squad this summer by bringing in the likes of Marc McNulty, Conor McLaughlin and Jordan Willis, the Black Cats have made somewhat of an underwhelming start to the year under manager Jack Ross.
Following back-to-back 1-1 draws against Oxford United and Ipswich Town, it seemed as if Sunderland had clicked into gear as they secured three successive victories in League One.
However, the Black Cats were brought back down to Earth last Saturday by Peterborough United who inflicted the club's first defeat of the year at the Weston Homes Stadium.
Currently sixth in the third-tier standings, Sunderland will unquestionably be looking to launch a sustained push for automatic promotion over the coming months.
Yet in order to help his side achieve this goal, Ross may benefit from taking a step back by looking at how the season has panned out for Sunderland so far.
Keeping this in mind, here are three things we think the Sunderland boss will have learned about his players during the opening weeks of the 2019/20 campaign...
Chris Maguire could become a talisman this year
Having enjoyed a fruitful 2018/19 season at the Stadium of Light which saw him provide 16 direct goal contributions in all competitions, Chris Maguire has kicked off the current campaign in fine form.
[ad_pod ]
After scoring the winner against Portsmouth, the winger then fired in a stunning hat-trick against AFC Wimbledon.
Providing that he can overcome the injury which kept him out of last weekend's clash, Maguire will have a chance of becoming somewhat of a talisman for Sunderland this year.
The Black Cats need to make drastic improvements to their defending
Despite only losing one of their opening eight fixtures of the season, Sunderland have remarkably failed to keep a single clean-sheet.
With promotion unquestionably on the agenda for the Black Cats, it is paramount that they solve this particular issue before it gets out of hand.
With the likes McLaughlin and Willis yet to hit top gear for Sunderland, Ross will be hoping that the transfer deadline day acquisition of Laurens De Bock from Leeds United will prove to be the solution to the club's defensive woes.
McNulty may be the answer to their forward conundrum
Brought in on loan earlier this summer from Reading, McNulty has made an encouraging start to life at the Stadium of Light.
After setting up the Black Cats' equaliser at Ipswich, the 26-year-old then put Accrington Stanley to the sword by scoring and assisting at the Crown Ground.
Following a spell out of the side due to injury, McNulty made his return against Peterborough but was unable to inspire the club to a positive result.
If the forward can recapture the form which saw him fire in 28 goals in all competitions for Coventry City during the 2017/18 campaign, he could prove to be the answer to Sunderland's current conundrum up-front.