Former Sunderland midfielder Dylan McGeouch has dubbed the Black Cats a 'Premier League club' who he is sure 'will get back where they should be'.
The Scotland international spent 18 months on Wearside before joining Aberdeen in January and was part of the Sunderland squad that reached two Wembley finals last season.
There was a lot of hype surrounding the former Celtic youngster when he made the move to the Stadium of Light in the summer of 2018 from Hibernian but injuries curtailed his progress on Wearside.
After struggling for game-time under Phil Parkinson, the 27-year-old returned north of the border but he is not bitter about his time on Wearside.
In fact, he was incredibly complimentary about his former employers in an interview with the local press in Aberdeen.
“Sunderland are a Premier League club," McGeouch told Evening Express.
"They have been there, but they have had a bad few years and find themselves in League One.
“They are so passionate and know where they want to be so it is even tougher when you don’t achieve what you want to.
“Sunderland have a massive fanbase who follow them everywhere. I am sure they will get back where they should be.”
The eyes of the world were on the Black Cats earlier this month after the release of series two of the Netflix documentary, Sunderland 'Til I Die.
But what was it like for the players to be followed around by a film crew at such close quarters?
"I have watched Sunderland ’Til I Die because I was part of that," McGeouch added.
"The first few weeks you are seeing television cameras, but after that you got used to it and it became the norm.
“We knew when the cameras would be there. There weren’t any hidden cameras and we knew when we had to give interviews so it was a lot easier.
“There are cameras there taping every training session and game, so if it is not going well it is no good – but if it is going well then it is amazing. It is just the highs and lows of football and it is good television for punters.
“As a player, it wasn’t too bad, but not to get what we wanted at the end of the season was tough to watch again.”
