THIS time last year, Sunderland fans were contemplating a trip to Cardiff with a mixture of despair and disbelief.

After experiencing Anfield in Autumn, the thought of Ninian Park in November did not exactly set the pulses racing.

An awful lot has happened since then. An incredible 23 senior professionals have left the Stadium of Light, 16 players earning more than a million pounds a year have either been taken off the books or seen their wages slashed, and the Black Cats have only narrowly avoided becoming the worst team in Football League history.

But, at the end of one of the most eventful years in the club's history, Sunderland stand on the brink of achieving what many felt was impossible.

Victory over Crystal Palace would take the Black Cats into the First Division play-off final and leave them just 90 minutes away from an instant return to the top-flight.

Cardiff might not be the happiest hunting ground for Sunderland's supporters given February's 4-0 defeat to the Bluebirds - but the Millennium Stadium in May still has a far better ring to it than anything they were able to look forward to 12 months ago.

Much of the credit for Sunderland's turnaround must go to manager Mick McCarthy.

The former Republic of Ireland boss has sensibly ignored the trappings of the club's Premiership past and set about assembling a squad able to achieve promotion from the First Division.

That hasn't always meant the most flamboyant of outlooks and it hasn't always meant the prettiest of football - but it has achieved results.

Plenty of managers would have crumbled when the Black Cats started the season with back to back defeats that extended their losing run to 17 league games.

But McCarthy kept faith in his players, and that faith has been rewarded by a whole-hearted and committed approach that has taken the club into the play-offs.

Old hands like Phil Babb and Jason McAteer have dug deep to provide the defensive solidity needed over the course of a 46-game season, while young guns such as George McCartney and Kevin Kyle have flourished away from the intense glare of the top-flight.

Missing out on automatic promotion was a kick in the teeth, leading experienced centre-half Gary Breen to argue that, with their play-off campaign about to get underway, Sunderland have done nothing yet.

In a sense Breen is right - defeat to Crystal Palace would leave the Black Cats in no better a position than they were in at this time last year.

But only the most hard-nosed of observers would conclude that the club have stood still, regardless of what happens over the next two weeks.

Whether they achieve promotion or not, Sunderland are now a team who harbour realistic ambitions of Premiership football.

That is achievement enough when set against the trauma of this time last year.

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