McGeady: Cats can clinch promotion this season

EX-SUNDERLAND winger Aiden McGeady reckons the Black Cats "have a chance of promotion this year" which is 12 months earlier than he expected.

- Clive Youlton

A Republic of Ireland international with 93 caps to his name, McGeady was with Sunderland across a five-year spell from 2017 to 2022 before being released.

He played more than 130 games for the Black Cats and looks back fondly on his time at the Stadium of Light. Speaking to club historian Rob Mason, McGeady reflected on his time on Wearside, which only represented a small part of his career which took in Celtic, Spartak Moscow and Everton among others.

Asked about his time at Sunderland and how he now views it he said: "I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved my time there.

"There were plenty of downs, but plenty of highs as well. It's a really big club and the passion of the fans surrounds the club. I had a great connection with the fans.

"The unfortunate thing was we were so close to having success on so many occasions. There were disappointing times, such as getting relegated in the first year I was there. That was a really tough one."

He added: "I was close to signing for Sunderland a couple of times in the past. I was going to sign for Martin O'Neill when I was with Spartak Moscow, but Spartak didn't want to sell me.