Luke O'Nien has said that Sunderland are planning to run away with promotion this term.

The Black Cats endured a torrid start to the season and found themselves in the bottom half of the League One table in early December.

However, since then Phil Parkinson's side have completely turned their fortunes around and find themselves on a seven-match unbeaten run going into the clash with Doncaster Rovers.

While sitting in sixth place at the moment, Sunderland could move themselves up to fourth with a victory at the Stadium Of Light, and O'Nien has said that the only thing they're focusing on is ensuring that the wins keep coming.

Speaking to Sunderland's official website, he said: “It’s our goal to be right up there come the end of the season.

“We are looking up and we are chasing, we are going to keep chasing until we are on top and then we are going to look to pull away.

“We can only focus on our performances and if we can manage to execute the game plan week in week out then the points will come.

“The rest will take care of itself."

He added: "Doncaster will be an exciting game, but we have a lot of work to do before then.

“At the moment we are building week in week out. When the gaffer came in it took a while for us to adjust and do what he asked of us.

“Each week we showed a bit of improvement and we knew results would come if we kept focusing on the things that we needed too.

“We’re not surprised things have picked up for us because we have worked hard, and we all know what we are doing.

“We are in a good spot, but we need to keep working and focusing so we can continue this good run of form.”

Can you name every Sunderland player's shirt number this season? 

The verdict

While Luke O'Nien's ambitious claims will be music to the ears of supporters, it's important that the team keep their feet on the ground.

Sunderland are in the middle of an excellent run at the moment but with games coming thick and fast it's likely that a drop in form will rear its head at some point in the coming months.

Automatic promotion should still be the target, but it's crucial that the Black Cats don't underestimate their opponents.

If they do then there's every chance that they could come unstuck again.