SUNDERLAND winger Lynden Gooch has complete faith that the club will gain success this season if they continue to carry out the mantra set by manager Alex Neil.

The Black Cats boss, who is currently unbeaten in 17 games in the dugout, led the team back to the Championship last season.

Life back in the second tier started off with a 1-1 draw against Coventry City but they make their first away trip this weekend to face Bristol City.

Gooch is a long time servant of the club and was part of the team that was relegated to League One back in 2018. His role has changed over the years and he played under Neil last weekend as a right wing-back but the biggest adjustment he and the side faced was the level of performance back in the second tier.

On adjusting to life back in the Championship, he said: "We do have plenty of players who have played in the division before. That obviously helps but we've also got lads who are younger who haven't so it's a learning curve for everyone involved.

"I think if we just keep trusting the manager in what he wants us to do, then we will be fine."

The Robins, managed by former Leicester City and Watford boss Nigel Pearson, saw their campaign get off to a losing start when they conceded in the final few minutes of their trip to Hull City.

Kicking things off on the opening day with a defeat will put fire in the belly of City when they welcome the Black Cats to Ashton Gate this weekend. Gooch continued: "It's going to be a tough game. They will be wanting to bounce back. They lost late on Saturday and probably felt unlucky not to at least get a point from the game.

"We know that they are going to want to try and get their first win on the board and bounce back from their result.

"If we keep playing well and do what the manager wants us to do then we will definitely gain more points than we will lose. We're going to go there and be ready for the battle."

Latest signing Ellis Simms is set to be in the squad once again for this weekend's game having made his debut as a second half substitute in Sunday's tie at the Stadium of Light.