Sunderland's 2023-24 Championship schedule offers early opportunities for Tony Mowbray and his team. The Black Cats kick-off their campaign - in front of the television cameras, naturally - against newly-promoted opposition in the shape of Ipswich Town on the Sunday of the opening weekend.
In front of a big crowd at the Stadium of Light, it is a chance for Sunderland to get off to a winning start, something they last achieved in the second tier back in 1998, against Kieren McKenna's side who amassed 98 points in League One last season and yet still only finished runners-up. That opening fixture will be followed by a midweek Carabao Cup game, and then the Black Cats' first Championship road trip comes the following weekend when they head to Preston North End.
It will be an early return to Deepdale for Sunderland, who won in Lancashire on the final day of last season to clinch sixth place and a place in the play-offs, while Preston's own play-off chances had faded late in the season and Ryan Lowe's side ended up finishing in midtable. From there, Sunderland are back on home territory as Rotherham United - who finished 19th last season - visit the Stadium of Light.
READ MORE: Sunderland's 2023-24 Championship fixture list in full with Ipswich Town at home on opening weekend
After that initial three-game burst, it gets tougher with a trip to last season's losing play-off finalists Coventry City at the end of August, and then they will have their first encounter with a relegated Premier League club when Southampton, under new boss Russell Martin, visit Wearside at the start of September to round things off heading into the first international break of the season. After the pause, Sunderland resume with their first three-league-game week, with a Saturday trip to QPR followed by a Wednesday night visit to Blackburn Rovers, and then another Saturday game at home to Cardiff City.
An away game at Sheffield Wednesday rounds off September, before Sunderland face a couple of tough games at the beginning of October. First up is a midweek home game against Watford who will be smarting after their hugely disappointing season last term, and then Middlesbrough - like Sunderland, beaten play-off semi-finalists last season - make the short trip up the A19 to Wearside in the final game before we hit the pause button again for the next round of international fixtures.
Sunderland resume a fortnight later with a trip to Stoke City, managed by ex-Black Cats boss Alex Neil, and then come a tricky run of fixtures with a midweek game at Leicester City, who will be among the favourites for promotion after being relegated from the top flight last term, followed a couple of days later by a home game against Norwich City, and then a week later comes a long trip to South Wales to take on Swansea City, who finished last season strongly and finished just short of the play-offs. Later in November, Sunderland face the epic 800-mile round-trip to Plymouth, sandwiched between home games against Birmingham City and Huddersfield Town.
December is a very busy month with seven games, and if you add in the New Year's Day fixture it becomes eight games in 31 days. It starts with a visit to The Den to take on Millwall on December 2, followed a week later by a home game against West Bromwich Albion, then a midweek home game against another Premier League relegated side Leeds United, and a long trip to Bristol City on the Saturday.
Sunderland entertain Coventry in the final game before Christmas, before heading to Hull City on Boxing Day, making another road trip to Rotherham three days later, and then complete the festive period with a New Year's Day game at home to Preston. Looking ahead to the second half of the season, March looks difficult with tough opposition and a lot of travelling.
First Sunderland head to Norwich, then face Leicester in midweek back on Wearside, before travelling to the South Coast to meet Southampton. A home game against QPR then leads into the Easter period with Sunderland making another long journey at the end of the month to Cardiff for a Good Friday fixture.
The run-in also looks awkward, with the last five games beginning on April 9 with a midweek visit to Elland Road to meet Leeds before heading to West Brom. Millwall then visit Wearside, and Sunderland go to Watford for their last away game of the season.
Sunderland round things off at home against newly-promoted Sheffield Wednesday - and if the Black Cats are still competing for promotion or a play-off place at that stage, their last day fixture looks relatively kind. There is a long way to go between now and then, however.
