Sunderland lavished with praise after positive start to the season

Gary Neville has praised Sunderland for their fast start to the Premier League campaign, saying the league needed the promoted teams to be more competitive than in previous seasons.

- by Phil Smith

Sunderland claimed their third win of the campaign on Saturday evening, beating Nottingham Forest 1-0 at the City Ground thanks to Omar Alderete's first-half header.

The Sky Sports pundit said he'd been impressed with the team's intent and physicality so far this season. Sunderland currently sit fifth in the Premier League table.

"I haven't seen them live yet, but Monday Night Football after the first weekend of the season, they'd played West Ham at home and sometimes you just like what you see," Neville said.

"They're defending for large parts of the game, but then they sprint forward, they're putting balls into the box.

"They play with intent, positivity. They've got a physicality about them. I really like what I've seen.