At last!

After the madness, the uncertainty, and all the wild speculation in the run-up to last Thursday’s transfer deadline, journalists across the land have been breathing a collective sigh of relief as the first full week of February brought relative calm.

Sometimes it seems the tail wags the dog, with transfer talk overshadowing the football.

But now we are back to the serious business and, while the debate over the number and quality of Sunderland’s signings and the wisdom of their sales - explored in last week’s column - will undoubtedly continue, at least we can now plough on knowing exactly what Michael Beale will have to work with for the remainder of the season.

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Last weekend’s solid if unspectacular draw at Middlesbrough marked a milestone with the Championship campaign now two-thirds of the way through, and the league table has begun to take shape even if it is still too early to make many concrete predictions.

There is a runaway leader 11 points clear, followed by a close-fought battle between three clubs competing for second place, and then an 11-point gap separating that group from a myriad of play-off hopefuls - with Sunderland firmly established in that latter category.

At the summit, Leicester City are out on their own. They have set the pace since establishing themselves at the top of the pile in mid-September and show no signs of letting up.

As I mentioned, it would take a brave man to make concrete predictions this far out but Leicester are the exception that proves the rule - this is one one hunt where the Foxes will outrun the chasing pack.

That leaves Southampton, Leeds United, and Ipswich Town fighting it out for the second automatic promotion place.

Newly-promoted Ipswich were hard on the heels of Leicester until Kieran McKenna’s side began to wobble just before Christmas and have now been reeled in and overtaken by Leeds and Southampton, although all three sides are within a point or two of each other.

The Tractor Boys invested heavily in the January window, seeing off competition from Sunderland to sign striker Kieffer Moore from Bournemouth, Jeremy Sarmiento from Brighton, and Lewis Travis from Blackburn Rovers, all of those arriving on loan, along with Ali Al Hamadi from AFC Wimbledon on a permanent basis.

Whether that will be enough to reignite their promotion challenge, only time will tell.

But, barring a fairly dramatic shift in form, it looks as though those three sides, in one order or another, will make up the rest of the top four and account for that coveted second automatic promotion berth and two of the four play-off spots.

That would leave two play-off places available and, looking at the current league table, everyone from fifth-placed West Bromwich Albion down to Cardiff City in 13th is in the running.

Along with the Baggies and the Bluebirds, that takes in Hull City, Coventry City, Sunderland, Norwich City, Preston North End, Watford, and Boro.

It is a very similar picture to this stage last season, and Sunderland find themselves in a very similar situation just one place and one point shy of where they were a year ago, as they prepare to face Plymouth Argyle at the Stadium of Light this weekend.

Of course, there is still a way to go.

But if the current league table is any guide, the race for the play-offs could go right to the wire just as it did last May when eight teams went into the penultimate weekend competing for two available play-off places, with the race whittled down to five going into the final day.

The Black Cats ultimately secured sixth spot, but the fact they could have finished anywhere between fifth and ninth on the final day demonstrated just how fine the margins can be.

Sunderland’s January business will be reappraised in the summer when we know which side of the line the club falls.

Some good news this week, with Michael Beale saying that Elliot Embleton will be eased back into action for the U21s against Leicester City tonight.

Midfielder Embleton has endured a torrid time since breaking his leg against Hull City in December 2022 which ruled him out for the rest of the season, returning to fitness over the summer and joining Derby County on loan to get gametime, only to feature in just two games before he suffered a thigh injury which required surgery and another lengthy spell on the sidelines.

It has been a tough spell for Embo and he still needs to work his way back to full fitness, but hopefully this evening’s game marks the start of that process.