Gary Neville has played down Gus Poyet's achievement of keeping Sunderland in the Premier League.

The Uruguayan took over the Black Cats in October when they were languishing in the drop zone, before eventually leading them to a 14th-place finish.

However, Neville feels that the final position was something that would have been expected at the beginning of the campaign.

He told Sky Sports News: "Has [Poyet's appointment] been a success? He won four games at the end. He's put in a great end to the season, but if you said at the start of the season that Sunderland would finish in 14th or 15th position, then you'd say that's where they should be finishing.

"He's got there in a dramatic fashion [and] of course, this last month, it's been brilliant, but in terms of over the course of the season, not really."

Sunderland finished their season with a 3-1 defeat to Swansea City on Sunday.

Written by
Paul Gorst