SUNDERLAND'S new owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus' must be quite happy with his purchase right now – and head coach Lee Johnson is focused on delivering more victories on the pitch for him.

Louis-Dreyfus was the at the Stadium of Light for the first time as the official owner of the Wearside club to witness a victory over Simon Grayson that has lifted the Black Cats up to fifth.

That fact was backed up by a third straight win in League One for the first time this season and there’s that matter of a trip to Wembley for the EFL Trophy final next month to think about too.

Sunderland do have a tendency to self-destruct, but Johnson seems to be getting somewhere with this squad and he is desperate to keep building the momentum – and put a smile on the new Swiss owner’s face along the way.

“I think so (takeover given everyone a lift),” said Johnson. “It's my job to flatten the waves and make sure there's a consistency of performance.

“Kyril coming in and setting out his plans verbally, and the actions on the back of that, leads us in a direction. That messaging has to come from the top and then we become disciples of that message. The philosophy stays the same because that's what we believe in and that's why I was recruited.”

Earlier in the day it emerged the new owner has appointed Patrick Treuer as the new chief financial officer of the Louis-Dreyfus Company and the family's lawyer Igor Levin has joined the club's board.

But it was important to follow those steps with a home win and that is exactly what Aiden O’Brien’s header just after the hour and Max Power’s header with eight minutes remaining delivered against Fleetwood.

Johnson said: “You've got to win games in different ways. It was a bit flat to begin with and I think that's where you need your crowd, but at the same time the cohesive patterns of play, the control we had from good players, meant that we were always going to tire the opposition down and when you've got the ball, the opposition can't score.

“A lot of things pleased me. A set-piece goal, a clean sheet. You need 19 or 20 of those to be in contention for promotion and we can't be far off that now. The most pleasing part is that in the second half we were able to up it by that 5-10 per cent. It wasn't glamorous but it was very professional and very solid.”

Grayson’s ill-fated reign at Sunderland came to an end in October 2017, followed months later by relegation on Wearside. Sunderland have tried to recover and reclaim a place in the Championship ever since.

It will be hoped that under Louis-Dreyfus they can, although more impressive performances than this will be required if that goal is to be achieved come May.

Sunderland, though, were never in danger. Once former Darlington striker Harvey Saunders was unable to get on the end of Kyle Vassell’s volley across the six-yard box, Fleetwood rarely tested the home defence.

Sunderland had more of the ball in that opening period, but only once was Alex Cairns really called upon and that was deny Aiden McGeady with seven minutes remaining in the first half after Lynden Gooch’s run and pass.

After the restart Gooch was denied by Cairns before O’Brien arrived between his markers to nod McGeady’s brilliant cross low and beyond the goalkeeper in the 61st minute.

After that there was no way back for Fleetwood and Power made sure by heading in Chris Maguire’s corner in the closing stages, after Jordan Jones had been denied twice.