Sunderland have one foot in the play-off final - but Sheffield Wednesday are still alive

"All you've got to do is keep the unbeaten run going," suggested the questioner with a smile. "Yeah - sounds easy, doesn't it?" came Alex Neil's wry response.

The exchanged summed up the situation perfectly. Sunderland have one foot in the play-off final after their first leg win against Sheffield Wednesday at the Stadium of Light, but the idea that Monday's return at Hillsborough would be a mere formality could not be further from the truth.

The Black Cats' victory extended their unbeaten run to 14 games, and they have not lost away from home in any of the seven road trips Neil has overseen. But, for all their dominance on their own patch against Wednesday, they hold only a slender 1-0 lead and can expect the Owls to throw everything but the kitchen sink at them in South Yorkshire.

Sunderland's job is only half-complete and the toughest part is yet to come - not for nothing is the semi-finalist that finishes higher in the league table given the right to play at home in the second leg. That said, it is certainly advantage Sunderland after the first leg and they are now one clean sheet away from a fourth visit to Wembley - and a second play-off final - in four years.

Sunderland were excellent on Friday night, roared on by a crowd of more than 44,700 - a record for an English play-off semi-final - and the only disappointment was that they were unable to add further goals to give themselves a more comfortable cushion. Neil's decision to switch from the back three he has used in recent weeks to a 4-2-3-1 system wrongfooted Wednesday, and it gave Sunderland more creativity going forward with Patrick Roberts, Alex Pritchard, and Jack Clarke the trio playing behind Ross Stewart.

The first half was tight, with Sunderland