Ex-Black Cat hopes new owner and acquistion of Lee Johnson will help transform Sunderland.

The former Sunderland striker, Mikael Mandron, says it will be disappointing not to have any supporters inside the Alexandra Stadium for one of our most highly anticipated matches of the season – but the Frenchman still believes that it will still be a great game.

The 26-year-old made three Premier League appearances for the Black Cats before eventually moving on to Eastleigh in search of more first-team football in 2016.

Now, the Crewe forward, is hoping to celebrate the signing of his new contract with a victory over his former club.

Mikael told iFollow the Alex: “We all know how well supported Sunderland are and it is a shame that there will be no fans inside the ground this weekend.

“It is still a great game to look forward to and to be involved in regardless.

“Sunderland have been taken over and they have a new manager (Lee Johnson). Hopefully that will give the club some real stability now. It has been an issue for a number of years now and when I was there as a player they seemed to change manager every six months. It made things difficult.

“Hopefully, it will be a long term project for them and those there now can bring that vision because it is a massive football club.”