Sunderland goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin has admitted that the team will consider this season as a failure, if they wail to win promotion to the Championship.

Jack Ross' side face Charlton Athletic in the League One play-off final at Wembley on May 26 and will be looking to secure a return to the Championship at the first time of asking.

Having competed for automatic promotion all season, Sunderland just missed out on a place in the top two, after winning just one of their final seven league matches, eventually finishing fifth, six points behind second-placed Barnsley.

The Black Cats booked their place in the play-off final at Wembley with a win over Portsmouth in the semi-finals, winning 1-0 at the Stadium of Light in the first leg and drawing 0-0 at Fratton Park in the second leg last week.

McLaughlin has admitted that he will consider this season a failure if the team miss out on promotion and says the team are aware of the pressure they are under going into the final.

“If we don’t get promoted it’ll be seen as a failure, we know that and understand the pressure," said McLaughlin.

"That’s why our celebrations weren’t crazy when we won the semi-final. Of course, we’re delighted to get through but we know that we’ve achieved nothing so far,” he added.

McLaughlin has played a vital role for Sunderland this season, playing every game in League One, conceding 47 goals and keeping an impressive 13 clean sheets in the third tier.

The Verdict:

I agree with McLaughlin. Much like Leeds in the Championship, it was a major disappointment for Sunderland to miss out on automatic promotion this season and the team are now under enormous pressure to win the play-offs.

Sunderland have already tasted defeat once at Wembley this season, losing the EFL Trophy final to Portsmouth and the players will be hoping to learn from this experience going into the play-off final.