Alan Shearer refuses to name Sunderland after Gary Lineker promotion admission
Alan Shearer referred to Sunderland as “the Mackems” after Gary Lineker made a comment on the race to get promoted to the Premier League.
Four days remain until Sunderland face Coventry City in what will be the biggest game of the season yet, at least until the reverse fixture.
Sunderland are in dire form heading into the game, having suffered five defeats in a row, and scoring just once in their last six encounters, sparking major concern on Wearside.
With that said, the Black Cats still have aspirations of returning to the top flight, though Lineker has sent a warning to whichever team finds the desired success.
Sunderland have a huge week ahead of them
If Sunderland are to reach the promised land of the Premier League, they will need to improve significantly against Coventry, a side against which they’ve failed to beat in over 18 years.
However, if Sunderland are successful and are able to make it back into the Premier League, serious improvements will need to be made on the squad, with Lineker warning those competing for a place in the top flight of the challenge that awaits them.
| Head-to-head | W | D | L |
| Sunderland | 12 | 18 | 18 |
| Coventry | 18 | 18 | 12 |
Via The Rest Is Football, Lineker said: “It will be incredibly hard in the Premier League, we always see the club that comes up via the playoffs [struggle], we saw it with Southampton, it’s very, very difficult.
Shearer replied: “[Coventry] have got the Mackems in the first round.”
Quite frankly, if Sunderland fans could have picked one team to avoid in the playoffs, it would have been Coventry, but if there is ever a time to end their horrendous record against the Sky Blues, this is certainly it.
Regis Le Bris must ignore Sunderland history v Coventry
While fans will look at the record as a reason for pessimism, it doesn’t mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things, given the fact that it is a different group of players and a very different type of game.
The Black Cats will not want to see their hard work throughout the season amount to nothing, and it’s unlikely they will be afforded such a good chance of promotion ever again.
Everyone of a red and white persuasion will be hoping that Sunderland can return to the form that brought them plenty of success earlier in the season.