Sunderland are currently thriving upon returning to the Championship, and have lost just once in their last five league games.

Despite the exit of Alex Neil, his successor Tony Mowbray has done well to steady the ship and keep the Black Cats tight at the back.

Across those five games, they have only conceded three goals, keeping three clean sheets including Saturday’s bore draw with Preston North End.

With Ellis Simms seemingly still missing due to his injury, the 58-year-old will be dreaming of a man who scored plenty of goals for the Wearside club when he was signed back in 2009.

Steve Bruce had forked out a large £10m fee for Darren Bent, but he came from Tottenham Hotspur with a fine reputation.

Although his stay was brief, he did not disappoint.

36 goals in just 63 appearances mark a return of over a goal every two games, and he also chipped in with four assists too. He was a pure marksman, and his pace and power were unstoppable when he was on form.

During his stint at Aston Villa, Jermaine Jenas labelled the forward as “lethal” and he proved that in front of the Stadium of Light, particularly in his debut season where he bagged 24 goals in the Premier League.

17 the season following again marked a fine return before he was snapped up by the Villans for a whopping £24m.

He only spent two years at Sunderland, but his goal-scoring impact was second to none.

Over the weekend in their draw with the Lilywhites, Mowbray was forced to play without a recognised striker and if he could bring anyone from the past to play for his side now, there is no doubting that Bent would be up there.

His short impact at the club helped fire them to 13th and 10th-placed finishes and with Simms still out, a top striker could be just the player to fire them to an unlikely promotion push.

Fans will be dreaming of a return to the top flight sooner rather than later, and if they had a prime Bent their chances would surely increase exponentially.