After five games of their first season in the second tier for a decade, Sunderland sit in 19th and two places above the relegation zone, mirroring many of their Premier League starts. 

The cracks have started to resurface at the Stadium of Light after a positive five points from the first three games, a humbling 3-0 defeat away at Barnsley being their second consecutive without scoring, proving to be quite the reality check.

Grayson can't quite shake of the demons that have lingered around the club under several of his predecessors, and their is one damming statistic that he must put right for his new club to truly enter a new dawn.

Sunderland have managed just three league wins in 2017, but perhaps most shockingly of all is the fact that NONE of those have came at the Stadium of Light.

The Black Cats have also failed to win a cup game on home turf this calendar year, bringing the total of competitive games without victory to 15, as attendances and season ticket sales start to dwindle.

Their can be little blame pointed at stay-away fans who's hard earned potential season ticket money would certainly not prove good value on what they've seen this year.

A club who have averaged around 40,000 crowds over the last decade can certainly recapture the support they have enjoyed in more (relatively) enjoyable times, but it needs an up turn in results to make match going something more than an obligation for the hardcore.

Sunderland face a Sheffield United side who have lost both of their Championship away fixtures this season on Saturday, before another home bout with Nottingham Forest the following Tuesday, an opportunity to break their domestic hoodoo.