Blackpool ace predicts Sunderland promotion push: 'They're a very good side'

Blackpool forward Shayne Lavery has predicted that Sunderland will be in the promotion mix come the end of the Championship season.

Lavery scored his second goal of the season as Blackpool held Sunderland to a 1-1 draw at Bloomfield Road.

That was cancelled out by a Ross Stewart leveller in a second half that Sunderland dominated, and Lavery said he was very impressed with what the Black cats produced.

Speaking about Sunderland after the game, Lavery said: "They're a very good side, they should be up there come the end of the season.

“They've been in great form as well so we really had to dig in that second half and a point is probably a fair result in the end."

Lavery’s goal looked like a very soft one from a Sunderland point of view, but he was understandably happy with his finish.

"For my goal I looked across and no one was there for the cutback so I just waited and the keeper sat down and I tried to find the corner and thankfully it went in,” he said.

“We've looked at the running numbers after the game and they're quite high, quite a few of the lads have played three games in a week there so for us to play with the intensity we did today and put in the performance we did, we deserved something from the game because of that.

"They threw quite a lot at it there in the later stages of the game but we stood up and did well with the challenge thrown at us.

“Quite a lot of the lads will welcome the rest ahead of the next game, we've got to regroup and look forward to the FA Cup and a break from the league now."

Read more Sunderland coverage