After failing to seal promotion via the play-offs last year, Sunderland will be looking to finally secure a return to the Championship by achieving success in this particular competition this month.
The Black Cats will need to overcome the threat that Sheffield Wednesday will pose in the semi-finals if they are to book a trip to Wembley Stadium to face either Wycombe Wanderers or Milton Keynes Dons.
If Sunderland do indeed achieve their goal of winning the play-offs, they will need to make some alterations to their squad this summer in order to give themselves the best opportunity to compete in the second-tier.
As well as securing the services of some fresh faces, Black Cats boss Alex Neil will need to make decisions regarding the futures of some of the club's current players.
One of the individuals who is set to become a free-agent this summer is Will Grigg who is currently on loan at Rotherham United.
Signed for a fee believed to be in the region of £4m in 2019, the forward would have been hoping to make a positive impact during his time at Sunderland.
However, after only managing to score once during the second half of the 2019/20 campaign, Grigg was eventually allowed to leave on a temporary basis in January 2020 as the club sanctioned a move to MK Dons.
Despite the fact that he scored eight goals and provided three assists in the third-tier for the Dons, Grigg failed to force his way into contention for a starting role at Sunderland earlier this season as he loaned out to Rotherham.
Before suffering a serious hamstring injury in February, the 30-year-old failed to deliver the goods on a consistent basis for the Millers in League One as he only managed to find the back of the net on two occasions in 19 appearances.
Despite this underwhelming return, Grigg could potentially join Rotherham on a permanent basis.
According to Rotherham Advertiser reporter Paul Davis, Will Grigg has been offered a deal by the Millers who sealed promotion to the Championship last weekend.
Instead of matching Rotherham in terms of offering Grigg fresh terms, Sunderland must part ways with the forward when his current contract expires in June.
Over the course of his stint, the forward has only scored eight goals in 62 appearances which is simply not good enough when you consider the fee that the club paid for him.
Whereas Sunderland will need to bolster their attacking options when Nathan Broadhead's loan deal reaches a crescendo, they will fancy their chances of drafting in a player who is not only an upgrade on Grigg but is also capable of providing some competition for Ross Stewart
Unlike Grigg, Stewart has managed to prove his worth by finding the back of the net on 24 occasions in the third-tier this season and is only going to get better in the years to come.