Sunderland owner Ellis Short has hailed the impact made by manager Martin O'Neill since his arrival at the club.

After replacing Steve Bruce with O'Neill in December, Short has seen the former Aston Villa manager carry the team up the table and they are now aiming to secure a top-half finish.

Short said in his programme notes before the 0-0 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers: "We have taken 31 points from the 19 league games Martin has overseen. Were that to be repeated over another 19 games representing a full season, we would accumulate 62 points, which last year was enough to reach fifth place.

"That's comparable with the sixth position Martin managed to get Aston Villa to in each of his last three seasons in the Premier League before joining us.

"Our aim is to establish ourselves as a club who can regularly finish in the top half of the table and look to climb as high as possible."

Sunderland are currently ninth in the Premier League.