AND breathe. After a remarkable afternoon of drama, excitement, incredulity and then unbridled celebration, Sunderland are in the play-offs. A season that has already massively exceeded expectations has the potential to become even more memorable yet.

Knowing they needed to win at Preston to have any chance of finishing in the top six, Tony Mowbray’s side stepped up to the plate spectacularly in the second half, scoring three goals in 11 magical minutes as the Black Cats boss’ half-time reshuffle paid dividends.

That might not have been enough had Millwall held on to the 3-1 lead they established over Blackburn in the early stages at The Den, but the Lions imploded dramatically in the second half, shipping three goals to enable Sunderland to leapfrog them and finish in the top six.

With the wind in their sails, and a vibrant young side packed with attacking talent and seemingly unbridled confidence, Luton Town will not fancy facing the Black Cats in the play-off semi-finals. Beyond that, perhaps Wembley beckons. And then the Premier League. Given everything they have achieved so far, with this Sunderland team, you feel compelled to dare to dream.

There were heroes all over the pitch yesterday, from Pierre Ekwah, who was masterful at the heart of midfield, to Amad Diallo, Alex Pritchard and Jack Clarke, whose clinical second-half finishes settled things. Mowbray also deserves huge credit for being bold enough to change things at the break when the scoreline was goalless.

The 6,000 travelling fans packed into the away end at Deepdale kept the faith throughout, with the ebb and flow of the afternoon able to be tracked by the mood amongst the red-and-white contingent. A couple of early cheers reflected scores that had the potential to prove helpful, but they were quickly replaced by an increasingly subdued silence as it became clear that the games involving Coventry and Millwall were not going Sunderland’s way.

Middlesbrough’s equaliser against Coventry raised the decibel levels, the volume increased further as Sunderland embarked on their second-half scoring spree, and it was pandemonium at Preston as news filtered through that Blackburn had made it 3-3 at The Den midway through the second half, sending the Black Cats into the play-off places for the first time.

With Sunderland leading 3-0, thoughts were focused on events in South London, and when Blackburn scored their fourth with five minutes remaining, the away end exploded again. By the final whistle, the party in the rain was in full swing.

On the pitch, the Black Cats had to ride out an early Preston storm before pulling clear in the second half, with the hosts dominating possession in the opening ten minutes and threatening through a shot from Ali McCann that deflected wide. Sunderland’s defence held firm in those frantic early stages, enabling the visiting side’s midfielders to gain a foothold in the game and begin to create chances of their own. Clarke curled wide of the far post after cutting in from the left before Preston goalkeeper Freddie Woodman threw himself to his right to turn Patrick Roberts’ goal-bound effort around the post.

Lynden Gooch sliced a shot wide from the edge of the box as the Black Cats continued to probe in the final third, with referee Bobby Madley turning down a strong Sunderland penalty appeal when Joe Gelhardt went down under what appeared to be contact from Liam Lindsay, but red-and-white hearts were in mouths when Preston spurned a glorious opportunity to claim the lead ten minutes before the break.

Liam Delap was released behind the Sunderland defence, but while he drew Anthony Patterson from his line to create a shooting opportunity, he slid his shot wide of the post.

That was a let off for the Wearsiders, but they failed to convert a decent chance of their own five minutes later. Having been preferred to Edouard Michut at the heart of midfield, Ekwah pierced the Preston defence with a wonderful slide-rule pass that released Gelhardt into the box. Woodman was alert to the danger, though, racing out to block Gelhardt’s shot with his body.

A draw was never going to be any good to the Black Cats, so Mowbray opted to roll the dice at the interval, replacing Dennis Cirkin with Pritchard and switching to a back three featuring Lynden Gooch that also resulted in Clarke and Roberts being repositioned as wing-backs.

The increased focus on attacking almost paid immediate dividends, but while a flowing passing move ended with Amad teeing up Dan Neil, the Wearsider rolled a first-time effort wide of the post.

Mowbray’s changes enabled Sunderland to get more men into the Preston box in the second half, and Ekwah wasted a great opportunity to open the scoring when he drilled an eight-yard strike straight at Woodman after Amad’s square pass had unpicked the home side’s defence.

Three minutes later, however, and the deadlock was broken, sending the travelling support into ecstasy. Amad has produced a number of magic moments this season, but this might well have been the best of them. Seizing on a loose ball after Roberts’ pass had been blocked, the Ivorian bent a fantastic 20-yard strike into the top left-hand corner.

Suddenly, Sunderland were rampant, and they gained the security of a second goal shortly after the hour mark. Clarke rolled the ball across the face of the 18-yard box to Pritchard, and the half-time substitute fired a clinical finish past Woodman.

With the goal going in at the same time as Blackburn were equalising at Millwall, it was bedlam in the away end, with the volume going up another level or two when Clarke added a brilliant third in the 65th minute.