Former Sunderland boss Steve Bruce believes Tony Mowbray can steer the Black Cats into the Championship play-offs - and says another of his old clubs Hull City also have a chance of a top six finish. The work Mowbray has done with a young team on Wearside is earning plaudits from a growing number of footballing figures, with Sunderland legend Niall Quinn backing the Black Cats for the play-offs earlier this week and Bruce has now added his own voice to the chorus.

Mowbray took over in August last year and led Sunderland to sixth place and a play-off spot in their first season back in the second tier after four years in League One. The current season is Mowbray's first full campaign in charge, and with a third of the games now played they sit sixth in the table - six points and seven places better off than at the same stage last term.

"I'm delighted with what Tony Mowbray has done with a very young Sunderland team," Bruce told Gambling Zone. "It's also interesting to see [Hull boss] Liam Rosenior cutting his teeth.

"Hull have given themselves a chance, too. You've always got a chance in the Championship and there's always somebody who surprises you.

"Nobody gave us [Bruce's Hull team] a chance in hell at going into the Premier League, and we did it [in 2013] and [the following season] got to an FA Cup final! Anything can happen in the Championship, and that's why I've always enjoyed it.

"It's a bit more of an even field compared to the Premier League, where we know who's going to finish in the top six. We may not get the order right, but we know who the teams are.

"There's always a surprise in the Championship."

Bruce arrived at Sunderland in the summer of 2009 and in his first season the Black Cats finished 13th in the Premier League, and the following season they finished tenth, which remains the last time the club finished in the top half of the top flight. He was sacked just six months later in November 2011.

Bruce went on to spend four years in charge of Hull and also had stints at Aston Villa and Sheffield Wednesday before taking charge of Newcastle United in 2019 and spending just over two years at St James' Park. His most recent managerial job was with West Bromwich Albion, and he left The Hawthorns in October last year.