Former Sunderland forward Kevin Phillips believes Sunderland will take a point from their opening league game of the season in an interview with Football Insider, with the Black Cats facing Wigan Athletic tomorrow afternoon.

Despite finishing one point above the relegation zone last term as they began their recovery from administration, Leam Richardson's side are back on the rise and have made nine senior signings so far this summer.

Although their most recent arrival is former Rangers winger Jordan Jones who linked up with the club on Wednesday, their signing of the summer so far has to be Charlie Wyke, who officially left the Stadium of Light last month on the expiration of his contract.

After scoring a tremendous 26 goals in the third tier during the 2020/21 campaign, almost single-handedly guiding the Wearside club to a play-off position before their semi-final loss to Lincoln City, he was expected to sign for Celtic after opening talks with the Scottish side.

However, the Latics came in with an improved offer at the last minute and poached the 28-year-old, who is in line to start on his return to the Stadium of Light tomorrow afternoon.

Kevin Phillips believes Wyke and fellow summer departure Max Power could make a major impact for Sunderland's opponents tomorrow. And despite the Black Cats finishing 16 places above them last term, he can't see his former side getting off to a winning start.

Speaking to Football Insider, the 48-year-old said: "I think it will be a very difficult game for Sunderland.

"I always back them but I think it is going to be a 1-1 draw this weekend. It will be a much tougher game than it would have been 12 months ago because Wigan have made some very good signings.

"I would love to see Sunderland get off to the perfect start but I think Wyke, Power and Jones will be bang up for it and that will make it really difficult."

The Verdict:

The return of Wyke and Power makes tomorrow's result even more important for Lee Johnson's side. Not only would a win enable them to get off to a good start in 2021/22, but would also halt a rising Wigan and give the Black Cats bragging rights over their two former players.

As Phillips pointed out, Wyke scoring is inevitable really regardless of the scoreline tomorrow - and that's probably the safest bet you could make on this match. The forward will be desperate to make a good league debut for the Latics and against his old side, there's no shortage of motivation there.

You can also understand why the former Sunderland forward is reluctant to predict a win tomorrow, because they've had a very mixed summer with transfers and need more reinforcements to come in before the end of August to give them the best chance of competing for promotion.

Whether they can finally get back to the Championship at the fourth time of asking remains to be seen, but a win tomorrow would be a major boost.