Tony Mowbray's Sunderland pledge as he reflects on the year that 're-energised' him

Tony Mowbray says he has been re-energised by working with Sunderland's young squad as they prepare to take the next step in their remarkable campaign.

The play-off semi final against Luton Town is their reward for a superb end to the season despite a raft of injury issues, and it also represents

Mowbray, a legend at local club Middlesbrough, left Blackburn Rovers last summer determined to spend more time with his family and with no idea where his managerial career would next lead him.

It has proven to be a remarkably good fit for man and for club, who has developed both the front-foot playing style and the players within it.

However the play-off campaign develops, Mowbray is confident that he is on the right path to leave the club in a very strong position.

"I didn't know where my future lay but I was confident in my ability, we'd taken Blackburn from League One to a stage where we were competing at the top end of the Championship and turning down huge bids for players," he said.

"We hadn't had any talks about a new contract so I said to my family we'd go and have some nice holidays. I felt we'd done a good job at Blackburn and somewhere along the line [a job would come up] but I'd missed a lot of children's lives. I played football with them, did some paragliding, I tried to do paddleboarding but I kept tipping over...

"I had no thoughts about where the next opportunity might be, but this allowed me to still be at home and still be a dad. It's been a good fit.

"I genuinely think every club I've left [in a better place]," he added.

"Bar Celtic, where you have to win, where second is nothing. Even then, in February we were still in Europe, going away to Israel to play in the Europa League and then coming back to play away at Inverness on the Sunday... Rangers had Walter Smith and they just kept winning.

"Apart from that, I feel every time I've left are going to be good. Hibs won the League Cup months after I left, West Brom were promoted the year I left. I feel we leave good teams and so the day I leave this club, I hope you have a good team with good players. "For whatever reason I leave, whether it's a six game run where we can't win and the fans moan and the owner thinks, 'we can this young guy and get rid of that old git..' - that's just life.

"I've enjoyed it here and it's re-energised me. I think it can be tough when you've been somewhere for five-and-half years, because you become part of the furniture. Players like Travis, Wharton, Buckley... they were all in the U18s when we got there. We brought them through but there becomes a stage when the expectation grows and you're part of the furniture. If I'm here long enough, that will happen, it's part of the journey... unless you're Sir Alex Ferguson."