Sunderland head back to Wembley this weekend, with an immediate return to the Championship at the first time of asking at stake for Jack Ross' side.

Sunderland spent the season in and around the automatic promotion spots in League One, but after falling away at a crucial stage of the season, the play-offs were the only route available to gain promotion this season.

The stakes are therefore very high for the Black Cats and this is not lost on the players with goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin stating in the Chronicle that it will be considered a failure if they do not gain promotion.

Is McLaughlin right in his opinion of Sunderland's season?

We discuss........

Jacob Potter

"He’s spot on.

"The expectation for Sunderland at the start of the season will have been to win an immediate promotion back into the Championship.

"With the resources that Jack Ross has available to him, that will have been the minimum expectation and McLaughlin and his Sunderland team-mates will know what is expected of them at Wembley this weekend."

Ben Lang

"I think this is a fair assessment.

"Sunderland’s one goal this season would have been to earn promotion, and Jack Ross’ good work throughout the season made it seem like this was very much on the cards.

"However, they failed to perform when it mattered at the business end of the season and have now been granted their last chance for success in the play-offs.

"Defeat in the final would mean an unacceptable two Wembley defeats this season, and it would spell trouble for Ross’ future at the club."

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George Brooks

"I think so.

"It was a major disappointment for Sunderland to miss out on automatic promotion and the team are now under enormous pressure to win the play-offs, much like Leeds were in the Championship.

"It’s been a good season for Sunderland, but anything less than promotion will have to be considered a failure, especially given the position the club were in with just a few games to go and the fact that they spent £4million on Will Grigg in January."

Gary Hutchinson

“Yes, 100%.

“They have to go up, they’ve spent big in relation to other sides and are facing a club who lost a striker in January, not spent £4m on one.

“They should be top two on budget and they should beat Charlton on paper.

“I’m not sure they will though, I like Lee Bowyer and his side will be a big challenge.”