For what it is worth, the bookies are already putting Sunderland among favourites to go up from League One next season. But as you’ll see at Betway sports betting they are naturally more concerned just now with flutters on the World Cup.
Unless we count Wahbi Khazri, whose form since going on loan to Rennes has won him a place in Tunisia’s provisional World Cup squad, the only Sunderland player who may feature in Russia is Bryan Oviedo, with Costa Rica. Senegal obviously had Papy Djilobodji watched while he was at Sunderland, where he was wretched, and not on loan at Dijon where he was a lot less accident-prone. In any case, none of the three seems remotely likely to be at the Stadium of Light when the League One season kicks off …