‘It will be a massive achievement if Sunderland finish above Newcastle United, but the season is pretty much already a success regardless – top 10 would be amazing’ Former Black Cats Premier League star hails club’s progress after derby win

Sunderland sit eighth in the Premier League after their derby triumph over Newcastle United – four places above their north east rivals.

The Black Cats beat Newcastle 1-0 at the Stadium of Light on Sunday thanks to a Nick Woltemade own goal, in the first Premier League Tyne-Wear derby for nine years.

Regis Le Bris’ side go to Brighton this weekend having taken an impressive 26 points from their first 16 games – Newcastle in contrast, host Chelsea having amassed a disappointing 22 points.

Sunderland on the up

It’s only four seasons since Sunderland were in League One, and they came into the top flight bidding to become the first promoted club to remain in the Premier League for three years. In each of the previous two top-flight campaigns, all three promoted sides went straight back down again.

After seven wins and just four defeats so far though, they sit 13 points clear of the relegation zone, looking in no danger at all of making an immediate return to the Championship.

That has pleased former Sunderland star Bolo Zenden, who spent two seasons at the club during their previous Premier League days.

While it’s now possible that they could even finish above Newcastle, Zenden says that the season has already been a massive success, whether they pip the Magpies in the table or not.

“If they do that it’s a massive achievement,” the Dutchman told FourFourTwo, speaking in association with Casino Beats. “For Sunderland to be promoted and play that game against Newcastle, the atmosphere was fantastic, you could tell they’d been waiting for that game for a long time.

“Sunderland getting promotion through the play-offs was special, then the first thing you want is to stay up – every team that goes up will say that, because it’s so difficult. You need a certain amount of points to be safe and they’re well on the way to that, which is the main goal.

“If they are capable of finishing in the top half of the table, they’ve had an amazing season, so I’m not really bothered or worried whether they finish above Newcastle or not. It’s obviously an extra for the people in the north east but I’d almost say that the season is already a success.

“There’s still a long way to go and they’re going to miss quite a few players now for the Africa Cup of Nations, six I believe, and for any club that would be difficult to deal with, let alone Sunderland who’ve just come up.

“I always say that come the end of January, because the calendar in December and January is packed with games, that’s when you have a better view of where you are.”