The Black Cats currently sit bottom of the Championship with a measly 26 points from 33 games.

Their last game was a must-win fixture against Bolton, but they slumped to a 1-0 defeat. It was away from home, which is traditionally a disadvantage, but Sunderland have actually picked up less points at the Stadium of Light than they have at opposition grounds.

They are currently three points away from safety. However, Hull City and Barnsley both have a game in hand so that gap could increase.

A win against the Trotters would have brought them level with Hull who currently sit outside the relegation places, but have a better goal difference. However, the match against Bolton acted as a six-pointer because it compounded Sunderland's misery while enabling Phil Parkinson's team to create a gap between them and the relegation places.

Out of the 13 games left in the season, Sunderland only have five games against teams in the bottom half. Burton and Reading are the only teams out of them five that are seriously threatened by relegation. They also play four teams out of the top six with Wolves and Aston Villa being the games at home.

This makes for grim reading for Sunderland fans, and the game against Burton near the end of the season is of pivotal importance. Questions have to be asked of how the board has got the club in this position. Relegation from the Premier League is tough for any club to deal with, but the parachute payments help in this regard significantly. The first season is traditionally used for stabilisation with the second season being a push for promotion.

The one positive for the Black Cats is that they have a talented manager in Chris Coleman and they are in safe hands with him even if they do manage to get relegated.

Under him, they won their only home game in the 2017 calendar year, which was on the 16th December against Fulham.

Giving him a full transfer window to bring in who he wants will allow him to make his mark on the team, and he has already shown that there are places for youth team players in the first team such as Josh Maja and Joel Asoro.