Bailey Wright's World Cup progression highlights importance of Sunderland's promotion

Sunderland defender Bailey Wright has helped his Australia team-mates secure their spot at this years winter World Cup thanks to a dramatic penalty shootout victory over Peru.

The importance of this however will be felt no end, as the Black Cats recent promotion back to the Championship means the 29-year-old will be able to fully focus on the Socceroos hopeful progression throughout the tournament.

With it now confirmed that England's top two tiers will pause on the same weekend as the Premier League for the World Cup group stage, Sunderland would have been presented with a very different problem should they have not progressed to the second flight this season.

Both League One and League Two will continue throughout the tournament, with the two top divisions continuing once more on December 10th, 11 days before the final is set to take place in Doha on December 21.

Wright remains the only Sunderland international set to take place at the finals in November, with Ross Stewart's Scotland unfortunately crashing out against Ukraine in their qualifier, with Wales joining England in Group B.

The Black Cats will of course be hoping to mark a strong return to the Championship next season, with manager Alex Neil's future still hanging in the balance following his successful spell in charge thus far.

Former Preston man Wright will also hope his future can be resolved sooner rather than later, with his current deal at the Stadium of Light set to expiry in August, despite said talks of extending his stay in Tyne and Wear.