O’Neill looks to new season with safe Sunderland

Martin O’Neill is happy to be watching the fight for Premier League survival from afar as Sunderland’s season ends with a whimper.

The Black Cats boss freely admits he did not expect to be safe in mid-table at this point in the campaign when he took over from Steve Bruce in December.

The point they took from Saturday’s 2-2 home draw with relegation-battling Bolton was enough to mathematically confirm their safety, something which has not really been in doubt since the recovery inspired by the Derryman took them on a run of nine wins and two draws in 16 games.