It's fair to say that it's been a frustrating few seasons for Sunderland, who have become somewhat of a 'sleeping giant' in the third tier of English football. 

The days of playing in the Premier League will feel like a distant memory to plenty of the Stadium of Light faithful at this moment in time, as they look to win promotion this season.

Back-to-back relegations meant they're now in League One, but the Black Cats are in contention for a top-six finish in the third tier.

Former Sunderland man Kevin Kyle has recently admitted on the Open Goal Podcast that some players struggle to deal with the weight of expectation of playing for Sunderland.

"I genuinely believe some players buckle under the pressure of playing for such a big club."

Those comments are echoed by former Sunderland loanee Marc McNulty, who struggled to make a notable impact in his time with the club during the first half of the 2019/20 season.

"I think you have hit the nail on the head, spot on.

"I am not saying it's easy playing for not a big team but when you are turning up and playing in front of 30,000, sometimes 40,000 on your back, it is getting the characters in."

The Reading forward went on to admit that the atmosphere was 'toxic' at times during his spell with Sunderland, and revealed that some players couldn't cope with the pressure.

"You are going to go through tough times. At Sunderland, the new gaffer had just come in and we went on a run of so many games getting beat and we couldn't win a game.

"It was toxic. You know what fans are like and they were going mental. Some boys hadn't played at a big club before and hadn't really experienced that."

McNulty spent the second-half of this year's campaign on loan with Scottish side Hibernian, but has since returned to Reading with the Scottish Premiership season concluding early.

Can you score full marks on this higher or lower Sunderland quiz? 

The Verdict: 

I think it's a valid point to make.

I'm surprised that Sunderland are still playing their football in League One, and the club's supporters rightly have expectations of the current squad to go and win promotion back into the second tier this season.

McNulty is a classic example of a player that struggled to deal with the weight of expectation when he first arrived at the Stadium of Light.

He has since left the club, which didn't come as a surprise, but Sunderland's current squad will know that they simply must win promotion this term, otherwise some of the club's supporters will turn on them, and rightly so given the expectations that would have been set at the start of this year's campaign.