Stewart banishes promotion thoughts

Stewart is back among the goals

Sunderland striker Marcus Stewart will not even start to think about promotion, at least until after Christmas.

Stewart has led the Black Cats revival after a poor start to their Division One campaign, by scoring in each of his last three games.

Wins over Preston, Watford and Bradford have dismissed the clouds hanging over the Stadium of Light following losses at Nottingham Forest and at home to Millwall.

Although wins have rekindled belief among the fans that Sunderland can bounce straight back to the top flight, Stewart insists they cannot afford to look too far forward.

The former Ipswich striker said: "It's too early to start talking about the play-offs and promotion.

I'm playing in my favourite position and things are going well Sunderland striker Marcus Stewart

"I think you can start doing that after Christmas. At the moment, we've just got to look a the next game and try to win it."

The former Ipswich striker is delighted to have finally made his mark in the north-east.

He struggled to command a starting place under Peter Reid, Howard Wilkinson and current boss Mick McCarthy following his arrival last August. He told Sunderland's official website: "It's good to be scoring again and it has obviously boosted my confidence.

"When I look back, there were some difficult times here last season, but that's gone.

"The manager has shown faith in me, I'm playing in my favourite position and things are going well. We've got to keep it going."

Have your say on the 606 pages