George Honeyman reveals the big changes made by Stewart Donald and Jack Ross to turn the tide at Sunderland

The Black Cats' skipper is one of the club's longest serving players, and is well-placed to judge just how drastically the club has been transformed under it's new regime.

And, speaking to Sky Sports ahead of the club's televised clash with Accrington Stanley, Honeyman revealed how everyone - the new owners, staff and management - pulling together has helped to create a positive vibe around the Stadium of Light.

"It's been the gaffer, it's been his staff, the change of ownership," he said.

"All of these things have really helped us create this positive atmosphere where we are actually looking forward to the games.

"In previous seasons, people were coming up and expecting us to lose, now they are coming up and we haven't been beat at home this season."

Sunderland's squad for their campaign in the third tier has a slightly different look to those from previous seasons - with a primarily British squad assembled by Ross and Donald.

That's another big change that Honeyman feels has had a positive effect on the squad as they look to secure promotion back to the second tier.

"It's the first dressing room I've been in at Sunderland where it's mainly been British-speaking lads," he added.

"In the Premier League you normally get a lot of different nationalities and that can be tough, especially when things aren't going right, because it's hard to get your point across sometimes.

"When things are going against you and the crowd are, it can get lost in translation sometimes.

"Everyone knows the importance of Sunderland, knows the league and all these factors, they make a massive difference to when things go slightly wrong to not worry and when things go well, we know what we've done well, let's keep on doing it."

Key, too, has been the impact of the supporters - who have broken attendance records home and away this season.

And Honeyman has thanked them for their support throughout the campaign and believes their change in attitude is indicative of a wider change at the football club.

He said: "When we go a goal behind, you hear songs, not big boos at half-time.

"This is just how the mentality is changing throughout the club.

"At the end of the day, the fans make the club so they've got every right to do whatever they want, but we always want to show that we are trying, show that we're aiming towards something and I think they've responded amazingly."