Last two victories have crucially got the Sunderland fans back on side

After the disappointing draw at Bolton that brought so much criticism, Sunderland had a lot to prove. Not only to the fans, but also to themselves in the two following games against Sheffield United in the cup and MK Dons in the league and I think it is fair to say results wise, they redeemed themselves.

The cup win against the Blades was a bonus, but three points against MK Dons was vital and although the last 20 minutes seemed like an hour, they got the job done.

Those two victories have crucially got the fans back on side and as the cup draw paired Sunderland with another League One outfit in Oxford United.

The double of Carabao Cup and promotion is back on track.

Okay, so Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal might be slight favourites over Sunderland for the cup, but automatic promotion was - and still is - the main priority.

And that is looking far better after Saturday’s victory over MK Dons than it did following the Bolton fiasco.

The two outstanding moments from Sunderland’s last couple of games has to be Max Power’s two goals.

They weren’t exactly tap-ins were they?

And after scoring his first at Bramall Lane on Wednesday night, who could have possibly predicted an even better one just days later, but I think he did it.

Sunderland played very well in the first half on Saturday and being two up at half-time - and it could have been more.

I thought a comfortable victory was on the cards, but that definitely wasn’t the case after the Dons halved their deficit in a testing second half.

Sunderland lost their grip on the game and had to grind out the result in the end, but I don’t mind that.

Three points are three points.

If that is what it takes to get three points then that is fine by me, but it would be nice not to be biting our nails for a change.

The Sunderland Echo has launched a new SAFC weekly podcast call The Roar!

Every Thursday our team of SAFC writers - Phil Smith, Richard Mennear, Mark Donnelly and James Copley - discuss the big talking points of