Sunderland host Wimbledon at the stadium of Light in the Skybet League One. Last time out Sunderland beat Lincoln and Wimbledon lost to Charlton. Lee Johnson praised his team for an excellent performance away at high flying Lincoln City but is still looking for improvement. Josh Scowen is a doubt for the midweek match following his withdrawal through injury on Saturday. Luke O’Nien, Denver Hume and Lynden Gooch remain sidelined, although long-term absentee Morgan Feeney has now almost completed his return, having featured for the Under-23s on Monday. Aiden O’Brien could potentially be involved in the squad, following various minor knocks in recent weeks. Wimbledon have lost their last two games and will be looking for a response to a 5-2 defeat at Charlton despite leading at half-time. The Dons sit in 14th place in League One with 20 points from 16 games. Leading scorer Joe Pigott, who has 11 goals and 4 assists this season, is the man to watch for Wimbledon. Lee Johnson: "We got lucky I suppose, a couple of balls over the top in terms of the lad didn't finish one v one but apart from that it was a very very solid performance and obviously a very bright attacking performance." " Sometimes it's a bit of horses for courses and I did feel that this would be more of an open game, therefore we needed a platform and needed speed on the flanks" "We made it compact when we needed to, it was open for them and they were stretched because our distances were good and our protocols were good. A lot of the time we won the ball back and had half a pitch if you like to break into." "In injury time there were a couple of things because we were 4-0 up we decided not to adhere to the protocol, and that's what I don't want to see." Glyn Hodges: “We folded too easily, you can’t put old heads on young shoulders, they have to learn, the games are coming thick and fast, we’ve got Sunderland away next so if they think this is tough – imagine going up there” “We are a young side and we just need a bit of leadership out there, at key times, decisions are not being made and we get punished for mistakes.” “We will dust ourselves down and we will go up there – it’s a funny old league and we are more than capable of getting something” “Passing from a to b – we didn’t even do that well today. They caused us so many problems in the second half that the writing was on the wall.” “We’ve got goals in us but we are conceding to many at the other end as well.” Match Appointments: Referee: JAMES OLDHAM Assistant Referees: Geoffrey Liddle and Robert Atkin Fourth Official: Matthew Dicicco Team Line ups Sunderland: Burge, McFadzean, Flanagan, Wright, McLaughlin, Leadbitter, Scowen, Power, McGeady, Wyke, Diamond. Subs: Matthews, Sanderson, Dobson, Embleton, Maguire, Grigg, Graham. Injured: Xhemajli, Kimpioka, Younger, O’Nien, Hume Wimbledon: Trueman, Thomas, Heneghan, Csoka, McLoughlin, Woodyard, Hartigan, Rudoni, Seddon, Longman, Pigott Subs: Nightingale, Alexander, Palmer, Chislett, Tzanev, Guinness-Walker, Reilly Injured: Oksanen, O'Neill Betting Odds: Home 4/9 Away 16/5 Draw 21/4 My two pence: Well – what can I say. After a brilliant team performance at Lincoln, things are already looking up. I know we’ve all seen it before but hopefully we can continue to improve our goal difference and increase the confidence levels within the whole squad. The Dons have conceded 9 goals in their last 2 League games – and there’s no reason for that to stop now. I’m going for a 3-0 home win. Live stream £10 https://www.safc.com/news/team-news/live-video Ha’way the Lads
Thanks RTB great We will not surprise the Real Wimbledon with a new 4 3 3 formation like I think we did at Lincoln, but I would still say go with the same 11 starters... Home win
Jim introduced three young unknowns in that transformation. still two to go , and the raw materials are at hand, may take a while but I would not rule out a repeat, with a better end result this time. Curry on the bench instead of Graham , and Patterson in place of Mathews could be a step in the right direction We live in hope.
Thanks again RTB your a star, just seen the U23's are playing Norwich at the AoL today , wonder if Mumba is playing, Curry , Feeney and Almond start Younger is on the bench, but no Dan Neil, wonder if this is a clue to Tommorows game.
With our unbeaten away record safely intact after Lincoln it's our home from that needs improving. Teams come and sit in and feed off any scraps we give them like Wigan did for example. It won't be an open game like Lincoln so an early goal or two might encourage the visitors out of their own half and I'm sure our new manager has a suitable game plan for tomorrow. No prediction from me as I'm ****e at it.
If Scowen doesnt recover in time I hope Johnson is bold and starts Maguire in a 4-2-3-1 rather than Dobson in a 3 man midfield
Aye I am as well mate but I have a feeling we will come out and batter them from the kick off and then and then I woke up.
Cracking thread as always. 2 wins on the road and confidence is starting to returning. Everyone looked a lot sharper and hungrier on Saturday and showed a lot of gritt and desire. We’ve been here before with Safc but I’m expecting a comfortable home win. Onwards and upwards .
It’ll be interesting to see if the improvements continue against another team that’ll defend in numbers against us. I’m certainly more confident than a couple of weeks ago.
Always look forward to your threads @RTB I'm with you @DAPARKERSAFC and hope he is bold with his line up if Scowen can't play but will back him regardless. Any win tomorrow will be a good win, we cant expect high scores every week but if we play well, with confidence and win ill be one happy chappy tomorrow!
Couldn't agree more. Graham is a waste of a space on the bench, and Curry gives us something we don't have - a striker with genuine pace. I'm sure given what LJ has said about his U-21 contacts, he won't want to bring others in until he's had a good look at what he's already got.
I would prefer 4-1-3-2 at home. I cannot see them coming at us so would prefer to get at them early and get a few goals allowing us to relax in the 2nd half.
