Ally McCoist ‘delighted’ at what he saw Sunderland do v Portsmouth

Ally McCoist was “delighted” to see Sunderland maintain their winning start to the season with victory at Portsmouth over the weekend.

The Black Cats made it four wins from four in the 2024-25 Championship campaign with a 3-1 win at Fratton Park on Saturday (31 August).

Sunderland sit top of the division heading into the first international break of the campaign, much to the delight of McCoist.

“What a start. I cannot tell you how delighted I am,” he said on talkSPORT [2 September, 06:29am]

“Great result for them again this weekend. They had a comfortable win at Cardiff, great at home to Wednesday, and now this.”

Sunderland keep up winning run at Portsmouth

Nobody quite knew what to expect from Sunderland heading into this season after a rather underwhelming 2023-24 campaign.

The win at Cardiff City on the opening weekend was well fought and set the tempo for what was to come over the past few weeks.

The 4-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday was a statement, followed by a 1-0 win over fellow fast-starters Burnley and then the 3-1 win on the South Coast.

Sunderland may have conceded for the first time this season, but the manner of the win against Portsmouth was massively encouraging.

The transfer window is now shut and Regis Le Bris knows exactly what he has left to work with until at least 1 January.

Regis Le Bris
Credit: Imago

Teams have started like this and faded many times before, of course, but there is absolutely no reason why Sunderland cannot challenge for the top six at the very least.

Le Bris’ men face a trip to Plymouth Argyle upon their return to action in a couple of weeks’ time. A victory in that one and anything really will be possible.

In other Sunderland news, Kristjaan Speakman has given his views following confirmation of another player departure.

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