Sunderland fans - how confident are YOU as we head into the play-offs this coming weekend?

The term ‘bittersweet’ feels like an accurate adjective to describe this season. After the horrors of the Ellis Short era, new ownership and management brought fresh optimism into the club as fans were brought back onside with clever strategies aimed at repairing severely damaged ties to the local community.

The signings made weren’t stellar by any means, but they accurately reflected the position in which we found ourselves. An indifferent pre-season led to a league run of seven games unbeaten where shining moments of optimism poked through the mists of apprehension. Things were looking up as Jack Ross’ men showed fight as well as quality.

The loss of Josh Maja was felt heavily, and his missing goals hurt the team. However, the Lads were progressing well in the EFL Trophy whilst league exploits were promising.

Eventually, though, a Wembley final coupled with a commanding league position gave way to a frustrating end to the season. The Lads let their mathematical advantage slip in the league. The tangible dreams of automatic promotion fading away with disappointing performances.

Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

And so, after a season filled with many positives, the Lads ended their campaign on a rather flat note. Promotion is still very much a possibility, but the Lads will have to win across the course of the next three games in order to secure a return to the Championship.

The reaction to Sunderland’s fall in form has been emotional as fans try to analyse the season in general. Contentedness, anger, optimism, disappointment and every emotion in-between have surfaced when the 2018/19 Sunderland has been discussed.

However, after having some time to reflect and discuss the current situation, we thought it would be interesting to hear how our readers feel ahead of our play-off games - starting with Portsmouth’s trip to the SoL this weekend.

Are you confident of victory, or dreading another re-match? Do you think promotion isn’t a vital component of success, or do you consider anything less to be nothing but a failure?

Either way, we want to hear your thoughts ahead of Sunderland foray into the lottery of the play-offs, so leave a comment below, on social media, or send us an email to RokerReport@Yahoo.co.uk and we will feature a selection in a follow-up article before this weekend’s fixture. Let us know your thoughts!