Leadbitter broke into the side late in the 2005-06 season. It seemed like the low point of a period when the Black Cats were perpetually swapping divisions.

But the man from Fencehouses was never lulled into believing promotion under Roy Keane a year later automatically ended the era of boom and bust.

"The Premier League’s a really tough league," he said. "When you get back up, the first few seasons are all about consolidating your position.

"You have to do that for the first four, five or six years.

"It’s not about the first two years, it doesn’t matter how you’re doing, you’ve just got to stay in it, make sure you’re an established Premier League team and over the last 10 years Sunderland haven’t done that. They’ve been yo-yoing and it hasn’t been good as a fan, player or anyone connected with the club."

With Newcastle United and Middlesbrough also clogging up the bottom of the table, it has been a depressing season for the North East.

"It’s not good," he said. "The passion everyone has for their football in the North East, it’s incredible to think that the three clubs are in this position.

"We (Sunderland) have let our fans down in the last few weeks. But hopefully the performance at Bolton shows we’re going to put things right."

Meanwhile, Djibril Cissé’s agent has said the striker will join Tottenham Hotspur when his loan at the Stadium of Light expires.

"Djibril will not remain at Sunderland after the season has finished," Ranko Stojic told L’equipe. "We have an agreement with Tottenham Hotspur for Djibril to sign a 12-month contract. He will sign for Tottenham."

Defender Nyron Nosworthy seems unlikely to play in Sunderland’s final two matches.

"I’ve learnt you never say never in football, so I wouldn’t rule it out completely," he said.

"But it wouldn’t be good for anybody if I came back into the team too soon and got injured again."