Outside of the play-off places on goal difference, Sunderland are still well placed to finish in the Championship top-six with 19 league games to go.
Despite the loss of experienced players over the summer - Lynden Gooch, Danny Batth, Bailey Wright and Ross Stewart to name but a few, the Black Cats are two points better off than this stage last season, heading into an important game against Hull City.
Michael Beale's side have already taken three points from their promotion rivals on Boxing Day, and a repeat of that result would be a huge confidence boost to this young squad. The Wearsiders still have their youthful swagger and arrogance that carried them over the line on the final day of last season into the play-off picture.
They may have been beaten by eventual promotion winners Luton Town, but there's been no sign of a hangover from that play-off disappointment.
Nevertheless, there's an acknowledgement that Sunderland's summer transfer window has left them short of 'grey hairs' in the starting line-up, missing the experienced Corry Evans through injury.
It's something Beale has been quizzed about on a number of occasions since his arrival, admitting that a senior face or two would help ease the burden on a number of his young players.
Dan Neil, Jobe Bellingham and Pierre Ekwah have all been mainstays in Beale's starting XI since his arrival. Injuries to Evans and Jay Matete has left the Black Cats light of options in central midfield, with the squad in need of a defensive midfielder to free up others to play in more naturally offensive roles.
"We can point to some disappointing days so far this season but there have been really positive days as well," Beale said when asked about bringing in a defensive midfielder to allow him to rotate his young midfield three.
"Do I think they could do with a dedicated number six in behind them, would it help their skillset? Yeah. But at this moment in time, you're seeing Dan and Pierre adapt their game and that is for sure going to help them in the long run as well.
"Just a little bit of grey hair in terms of Corry would help wouldn't it, just that experience and talking on the pitch. Again, we can find a solution within the building but the nature of it is that when the window is open, we'll look."
Interestingly, Jobe has played almost four times as many minutes compared to his fellow summer arrivals, an outstanding statistic given he's just 18-years-old.
There can be no denying he's ready for Championship football, but moments to recover and rest are just as important for a young players development as minutes on the pitch.
Minutes given to Sunderland's summer signings
- Jobe Bellingham - 2,019 minutes
- Mason Burstow - 597 minutes
- Adil Aouchiche - 553 minutes
- Jenson Seelt - 498 minutes
- Bradley Dack - 472 minutes
- Nazariy Rusyn - 368 minutes
- Luis Hemir Semedo - 242 minutes
- Eliezer Mayenda - 186 minutes
- Nectarios Triantis - 91 minutes
- Timothee Pembele - 46 minutes
- Nathan Bishop - 0 minutes
Beale admitted his midfield three of Neil, Ekwah and Bellingham want to play every minute of football they can, but that also extends to the youngsters who aren't getting much game time - Jewison Bennette another who has played just nine minutes of Championship football so far this season.
"There’s a couple of things," Beale said when asked about conversations with the youngsters not getting much game time. "Timothee Pembele hasn’t played much football so we sent him to play with the U21s, he got an assist, Mayenda scored two goals.
"We’ve seen the brightness of that and what it’s given those two. That’s the reason they didn’t travel [to Ipswich]. Burstow is working hard every day in training. Rusyn the same. I’ve been pleased with Rusyn since I’ve come into the club, he’s played more with me being here than previous.
"He’s got a goal and worked hard for the team. There’s a little bit of a connection with the language, that’ll take a bit of time, nothing I’m worried about. Semedo has trained better and there’s an adjustment. We’re working with those boys all the time.
"I think it’s also overlooked, we lost Niall Huggins in our very first game and he’s an important player for us in the first part of the season. We’ve not had Dennis Cirkin as well. We’ve lost Bradley Dack and Pat Roberts as well, we’ve lost four starters in my opinion.
"Naturally any squad in our league, when you have injuries like that, it’s going to impact the whole squad, certainly our squad with our players. In terms of the boys that are in here working, the training levels I’ve been really pleased with and I’m working away with those guys.
"The eyes are on the future of one or two of them, if we put them in now for a club our size, maybe we’ll kill them a little bit so you’ve just got to trust us."
The final line of that quote is a balance that Beale must look to find between now and the end of the season - particularly given the lack of goals up front.
Whether that was aimed at Beale, or a message to sporting director Kristjaan Speakman, only those on the terraces will know. The club has done well to create a pathway to the first-team for their younger players since the arrival of Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and co, but that doesn't mean 'grey hairs' should be spurned to focus on the development of players not yet up to the level.
There's a general consensus that the club will add, and need to add, an experienced striker to their ranks in the January window, but what will that then mean for the likes of Hemir and Mayenda who have struggled for regular minutes?
Sunderland know they can't afford to stockpile talent, wasting potential of those they invested in back in the summer. Nevertheless, Beale also needs to continue winning football matches to finish in that top-six.
"We're a brave football club because we use a lot of young players," he said when asked about finding the balance of incorporating some of the younger players. "We don't value grey hair really do we?
"We value motivation, bravery and energy. I came here and we played four games in ten days off the back of two days training, then we had the small matter of a local derby and playing the team second in the league away from home.
"We need to give ourself a bit of a chance to breathe and get time on the training pitch. From what I've seen, we've got fantastic potential in the squad and as I say we're capable of playing anyone at our level, in our league head on. That's a real positive.
"Every day we're investing a lot into them. It's not a case of having a bravery to put them out there, it's just making sure we put the right team out there for Sunderland to win games of football."
Beale has already shown his willingness to mix things up away from home, looking to frustrate and stifle the opposition, with varying success to date. At home, we're yet to see enough games to make an early judgement call.
Interim boss Mike Dodds went to a back three against Leeds United last month, in a move away from the 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 Sunderland have stuck with for the majority of the season, handing Jenson Seelt a chance to impress and an opportunity he grasped with both hands.
Beale handed the young Dutchman a further opportunity to impress at Hull City and admits the versatile centre-half has impressed him in his first month on Wearside.
When asked whether we could see Sunderland change shape in order to accommodate some of the summer signings, Beale said: "With the right personnel, we can go into that straight away. I think we have the players in the building, but losing Niall [Huggins] and Dennis [Cirkin] is a big thorn in that [left-hand] side.
"Losing Patrick Roberts as well. We've lost good quality in wide areas and Aji [Alese] has come in off the back of not doing a lot and has helped us.
"He would be more comfortable as an up and in full-back, or in a back three. I've seen good signs from Jenson. I thought Jenson played ever so well away at Hull for example, in a big win there.
"Again, he can play at right-back, he can play at centre-half. That could maybe take a bit of a weight off the midfielders, because we'd change shape. All of these things are possible, it's just finding the right moment for the team.
"If you think of the games we've played since I've come in, they've all been high pressure and right on top of us. As I say, I've been in a month and there's loads of things I'm pleased with.
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"I know so much more about the squad now. In the areas where we can improve, but everybody I speak to outside of Sunderland really likes watching our team play. Everyone I speak to outside of Sunderland is really positive, that's people who are really experienced in the game not just our followers, people that watch us outside.
It's a club which is really high in the imagination of people because of our young team, because of the potential of the players. We're a team that people like to come and watch because there's six or seven that they think can really jump on.
"Sometimes I wonder, as we're so close to it, if we're blinded by the positivity."
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