Niall Quinn's confident assessment Alex Neil has Sunderland in 'best shape' for years

Alex Neil, who was appointed in February, has led the Black Cats on a 15 match unbeaten run on their way to their promotion showdown with Wycombe Wanderers this afternoon.

It’s been a run of form which has seen Sunderland take it right to the wire in games scoring stoppage time winners including in their play-off semi final second leg against Sheffield Wednesday when Patrick Roberts scored the winning goal.

Quinn said: “The first two or three weeks, late goals were starting to appear. There was a bit of joy in the air and it was still tricky because teams around them were still winning. Nothing was certain until the last week really.

“The drama that was being created by these late goals, that was being offset by his post match interviews as if it was bound to happen. That it wasn’t a fluke and that was the way these players were preparing. You get to a point where you do more of this, you get more goals.

“We’ll find our level and we’ll kick on above to where we have been for some time and I think we see evidence of that.”

Neil’s contribution to the team may have only been over a short space of time. However, it’s been a remarkable turnaround from a Black Cats side who, Quinn says, look well equipped to get the job done.

The former Sunderland striker continued: “There is no doubt that we are going into this game in form and the fans are going down here knowing that they have a team that are in better shape than any team that have been at this club for about seven or eight years.

“The level is different and I appreciate that but I just feel the task at hand. I’m going to give Wycombe a lot of respect. The manager (Gareth Ainsworth) is a rockstar in his own right and he is a huge presence. He will have a say on Saturday.

“But I just feel for everything that we have been through as a club, for the fans to have stayed loyal during that journey that this day could be for them.”