Discovery+ and Quest pundit Ian Holloway says he doesn't think Sunderland's past disappointment in the battle for League One promotion will be a concern for them this season.

Having suffered back to back relegation from the Premier League to League One between 2016 and 2018, the Black Cats are now find themselves in the third-tier for a third consecutive season.

That however, is not for the want of trying in the battle to win promotion back to the Championship.

The Black Cats have twice suffered defeat in the play-offs since their relegation to League One. Their first campaign in the division saw them concede a last minute winner to Charlton in the final of the play-offs at Wembley.

Last season meanwhile, saw them beaten by Lincoln at the semi-final stages, losing 3-2 on aggregate to the Imps.

Lee Johnson's side have started this season strongly, and currently sit fourth in the League One table, one point off top spot, but with games in hand on the division's current top two, Plymouth and Wycombe.

Now it seems that Holloway is confident that the events of the past few seasons will not have an effect on the Black Cats' push for promotion this time around.

Asked whether the fact that they have been close only to miss out on promotion to the Championship in recent seasons will be a concern for Sunderland, the former QPR and Crystal Palace manager exclusively told Football League World: "No. I think as a rebuilding group, they've got an excellent manager, personally I think Lee's very very good at what he does.

"He's got them motoring, so I'm fully expecting them to wipe away the cloud, and things are on the up up there."

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