Sunderland will emerge from their play-off disappointment stronger when they regroup for next season, according to Lynden Gooch. The Black Cats won promotion from League One 12 months ago and enjoyed a fine first season back in the Championship, exceeding all expectations by finishing sixth and bagging a play-off spot.
But they lost 3-2 in the two-legged semi-final against Luton Town, despite winning the first game 2-1 on Wearside, which meant they missed out on another Wembley appearance and a chance of completing back-to-back promotions and earning a place in the Premier League. Sunderland had the youngest team in the Championship and many of them had never before experienced the heartbreak of play-off defeat but Gooch, the club's longest-serving player at the age of 27, was part of the side that lost out to Lincoln City in the League One play-off semi-final two years ago.
"We were all devastated," he said of the defeat at Luton. "We gave everything all season just to get in [to the play-offs] and we were really disappointed [to lose] after winning the first leg.
"It's a positive season overall and I'm sure that when the dust settles we'll look back on a good season with a really young group. There's been a lot of adversity, a lot of injuries throughout the squad. It felt tough, but we can still be proud.
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"From a year ago, we have come on a lot just to be in this position. It doesn't take away how disappointed we were because we were desperate to get through, and unfortunately we came up short.
"Now we need to have a bit of a break and switch off, get ready for next season. This will make everybody a lot stronger.
"The younger lads have never experienced this before. I've been here at the club and gone through this before and I'm sure we will bounce back and be a lot stronger for it."
Sunderland were backed by a sold-out allocation of just over 1,000 travelling fans at Luton's tiny Kenilworth Road home a week ago, with the full-throated support of those supporters representative of the many thousands more who have travelled up and down the country backing Tony Mowbray's team all season.
Gooch said: "The backing of the fans meant a lot to us and we're bitterly disappointed for them that we didn't manage to get through and give them another day at Wembley. They've been fantastic all season, so we just want to say thank you to them."
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