MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

As the celebrations ensued the night after we clinched promotion to the Premier League last season, debates ensued discussing the massive task we had ahead of us of avoiding relegation. 40  was the magic number and, with nine games to spare, we can breathe a deep sigh and celebrate- mission accomplished.

After eight full seasons outside of the top flight, having gained promotion via the play-offs and finishing the season 24 points behind Leeds United and Burnley, we all hoped for an electric start to the campaign to give us every chance of avoiding the drop.

Finding ourselves in fourth after ten games, including a historic victory away at Chelsea, we may have gotten a little carried away in dusting off our passports with hopes of European football. Maintaining said form over the entire season was probably a little unrealistic, with a recent run of results bringing us back down to earth. Losing our status as the only side to still be undefeated at home in the Premier League hurt in particular. However, as a wise man once said, if you can’t get away at times like these, we might as well give up.

A key feature of every press conference this season has been journalists tempting Regis Le Bris into admitting that we can aim higher than the 40 point mark, admit that we’re already safe from relegation, or claim that we are way too good to go down. Our gaffer has done exceptionally well to waft away any suggestion and maintain his stance that 40 points is still the target, we are to take every game as it comes and that there is no easy fixture in this league. It’s almost become a bit of a running joke in the pressers as the season has developed, with the Frenchmen remaining objective and simply focused on the next game, instead of giving them a headline which could come back to bite him. Now we’re at the 40 point mark, it will be interesting to see how Le Bris responds to the inevitable questions, although I imagine he will continue his mantra of taking one game at a time, trying to pick up maximum points in each one.

It is this exact objective and grounded mentality that has taken us this far. Refusing to get too high after a victory, or too low after a defeat, allows the boss to ensure we are consistent enough to continue picking up points and that we don’t let the results dictate the attitude of the players going into games.

What a way to hit our goal too. Leeds’ defeat to Manchester City on Saturday was their first loss under the lights at Elland Road in over three years and Sunderland travelled to West Yorkshire without many of our best players, with others still managing fitness. Melker Ellborg made his Sunderland and Premier League debut, keeping a clean sheet in the process. Luke O’Nien made his first Premier League start at right-back and captained the side to a valiant victory, along with the likes of Trai Hume and Lutsharel Geertruida stepping up to the plate in alternative positions. Everything seemed to align, pre-kickoff, for a Leeds victory, with their famous Elland Road atmosphere and our lack of squad options. Daniel Farke’s side were also coming into this game desperate for all three points, still remaining on 31.

Our victory over Leeds also does wonders for the confidence of the squad. Having not picked up an away victory since Chelsea in October, and recent results indicating that we could be about to start sliding down the table and limping over the finish line, we can now look back on a valuable four points picked up on the road in the space of four days. We’ll be bursting with confidence for Sunday’s FA cup tie, with the extra security that we’ve achieved what we need to in the league.

Miraculously, Port Vale pulled off a stellar victory over Bristol City, meaning it’s a trip to a side bottom of League One which stands between us and our first FA Cup quarter final since 2014. With our most important mission of the season now complete, we can focus even more attention onto our domestic cup run and a trip to a certain club we now refer to as the Visitors later this month.

We have to give enormous credit to this group of players we are now so proud to watch, our head coach who has masterminded it all, the recruitment team for their exceptional work, our owner, Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, for sticking to his project and taking us this far, along with the fiercely loyal fan base for backing the Lads no matter where we go. It’s with great pride that we can now all say: mission accomplished.