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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Ben Banks

Sunderland promoted to Championship as Alex Neil and Ross Stewart prove inspirational to Black Cats success

Hamilton Accies legend Alex Neil has guided Sunderland back to the Championship with a 2-0 win in the play-off final against Wycombe Wanderers.

Elliot Embleton got scoring underway at Wembley Stadium with a fine finish to give the Black Cats a slender half-time lead.

Then it was former Albion Rovers forward Ross Stewart - who netted 24 league goals during the regular season - who stepped up to score a memorable winner.

Sunderland have been in England's League One since 2018 but the Airdrie-born boss has got them back to the second tier.

Neil arrived in Wearside in February following a stint at Preston North End, turning around their promotion chances following the sacking of new Hibs manager Lee Johnson.

They'd lost just once in 17 matches heading into this one after he arrived with fellow former Accies boss Martin Canning as his assistant.

Both of them are held in high regard by the New Douglas Park support after they proved inspirational in getting Hamilton back to the Premiership.

Neil was succeeded by Canning when he departed for Norwich City in 2015, with the 40-year-old keeping them in the top flight throughout his four-year tenure.

Between both, they made over 400 appearances as players for Hamilton.

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