Sunderland travel to Portsmouth in the SkyBet League One Last time out Sunderland beat Cheltenham Town and Portsmouth lost to Burton Albion. Lynden Gooch was absent from the squad as Sunderland beat Cheltenham 5-0 at the Stadium of Light. Lee Johnson is hopeful that the midfielder has not suffered a serious problem, and expects him to be available for Portsmouth. Johnson is awaiting the results of a scan on Nathan Broadhead, who was withdrawn with a hamstring issue after an excellent performance in his first league start in midweek. In defence Callum Doyle should be fit enough to return and debutant Niall Huggins will be looking to keep his place in the first team. Dennis Cirkin is undergoing concussion protocols and is a doubt. Denver Hume is nearing a full comeback but is expected to be saved for Tuesday night’s Papa John’s Trophy opener at Lincoln City. Jordan Willis and Arbenit Xhemajli remain sidelined. Portsmouth currently sit 13th in the League One table, having suffered their fourth defeat of the season against Burton Albion on Tuesday night. Under the stewardship of Danny and Nicky Cowley, Pompey will undoubtedly be aiming for a top-six campaign at the very least, having recruited a number of experienced players to attempt to seal a Championship return. The issue for the Blues is that they are without a win in eight in all competitions, their last victory coming on August 17th against Shrewsbury Town at Fratton Park. Lee Johnson: "Nathan was frustrated because he felt a little bit of tightness in his hamstring, he's a bit down about it, but we'll have to see how he is.” "He maybe felt it a bit earlier and should have come off then, but he did a couple more sprints and felt it a bit more. "It's very early to assess something like that. It could be cramp, a myofascial tear, or it could be a bad one, we don't know." "I thought he was fantastic, and as an ex-midfielder myself you just love playing in a team with that kind of movement ahead of you. "Not only that, but he never loses heart when he doesn't get the ball. He's not one of those strikers who makes ten runs and then stops because the ball isn't coming. He keeps on presenting himself, either to be put in behind or with the ball to feet. "We'll have to see, we'll have to assess him (Cirkin). In terms of the concussion protocol, he is complying with that and doing well." "We'll try to get him out on the grass tomorrow, go very, very light with him and see how he responds." Of Doyle he added: "It was a risk that we weren't willing to take with a young player. The sheer proximity of games that he has had, he has never had that before. He's 17, he's still got loads to do and loads to learn.” ‘What we have to respect is that Portsmouth have, like ourselves, got a really good fanbase and that makes it a really difficult place to play. ‘We know where we are, we know we are still developing our game style and trying to improve it in a number of ways, and what has been nice over the last few weeks has been to see that improvement.’ Danny Cowley: ‘It’s a really important game in our season, a big game between two big clubs. If you follow the form people will predict an away win, but it’s for us to put a consistent level of performance together. ‘We’ve played really well in parts of games but not the full game, and if you want to get a result against Sunderland you need to play well for the full game – no doubt about that. ‘I know the supporters are down on us at the moment, and I totally understand why, but we really need them at the moment. The Portsmouth people are underdogs themselves. ‘We are going to need that spirit and fight, and we are going to have to spark it on the pitch. If they can then drive that energy, that will really help us. We’ve got to put a performance on that they can connect with and be proud of.’ ‘We’ve got to spark it - that’s our responsibility. Look at the Plymouth game. We went 2-1 down in the 80th minute, but they saw enough in the energy and commitment of the players to stick with us - and they did. ‘Because they stuck with us, we found a way. I don’t know if we would’ve found a way if they hadn’t. They were a big part of that comeback.’ Match Appointments: Referee: BEN TONER Assistant Referees: Joseph Stokes and Garry Maskell Fourth Official: Michael Begley Team Line ups Sunderland: Hoffmann; Huggins, Doyle, Flanagan, Winchester, Evans, Neil, O'Nien, Gooch, Stewart, McGeady. Subs: Burge, Wright, Alves, Embleton, Pritchard, Dajaku, O’Brien Injured: Xhemajli, Willis, Hume, Cirkin Portsmouth: Bazunu, Freeman, Raggett, Williams, Romeo, Tunnicliffe, Morrell, Brown, Harness, Curtis, Marquis. Subs: Harrison, Hackett-Fairchild, Hirst, Thompson, Jacobs, Downing, Bass Injured: Tbc Betting Odds: Sunderland 8/5 Portsmouth 8/5 Draw 9/4 My two pence: A truly excellent performance on Tuesday against Cheltenham, and we really should have scored a lot more, but hey 5-0 is fine with me. I’m not going to Fratton Park this time but good luck to all those making the long trip. Hopefully it does go with current form and the players follow the process. I’m going for a 2-0 away win. Live Stream (for overseas fans) https://www.safc.com/news/team-news/live-video Ha’way the Lads
Great stuff as always. I really fancy us against anyone home or away at the moment. I'm going 3-1. Stay safe all the MLF going down there. HTL Edit, that should obviously read 1-3 to us.
Brilliant thread again RTB. It looks like the Cowleys are asking their fans to really get behind them, so it's important that we quieten them down by playing the kind of stuff that we are capable of. Having good home form takes a bit of the pressure off our away trips, so I'm expecting us to play with a bit of freedom and follow on from Tuesday. This is a much tougher game, but showing the same professionalism that we showed there last season will be enough to get the job done. Your team won't be far off what is picked. Back five is very likely to be the five you named RTB. I hope he goes with Evans and 09, then it's a coin toss whether he picks Embleton or Neil.With Broadhead likely to be missing, I expect Gooch to return, but if he doesn't make it, I hope he picks Dajaku instead of Pritchard. Same score as last time, 2-0 to the Lads!
These threads are a joy to see. Tough physical game I think. We need to be strong mentally and I think we will be. A 1-0 win for the lads and we will be applauding a team who can go away and look after themselves. Embleton with the winner in the first half.
cheers again RTB... in a way i am pleased we lost that game when we did, even though we played some of our better football we lost it due to poor finishing mixed with bad luck...i personally feel that result helped focus the lads. team selection is something i am none to bothered about atm, knowing whoever is picked can and will come in and play for the team, the shirt and each other, pretty sure our fans have filled all available seats so there will be enough there to raise the roof and i am sure they will also be giving it everything.
Samwise is right, sold out our section, although I do have some spares, and I'm sure our supporters will give the team great backing. The players seem to have a real determination, and trust in each other, that gives us all the confidence that we can give anyone a really tough game. I'd definitely rest O'Nien as I think Curtis, in particular, will try to rile him whereas Evans is too smart for him. I'd also play O'Brien wide right, instead of Gooch, as he's happy to mix it and supports Stewart well imo. He's also a good defender at corners, etc. Key man for me is McGeady who's playing well and working hard for 90 minutes, something he hasn't always done in the past. We have some young lads, who'll need someone confident to follow so McGeady and Evans have key roles for me. Stewart is slowly adopting the swagger that Quinny had and realising how good he can be. I believe he'll carry the confidence, from Tuesday, into this game and cement the cult status he's earned. The difference between him and Wyke is that he obviously loves being at Sunderland and the supporters have real affection for him. A couple of goals tomorrow could make him a real hero ... ... so I'm going with that and another clean sheet, both crashing headers onto the Sunderland end, Haway the Lads!!!
Huge game and a point wouldn’t be a disaster but we really should be going all out for all 3 here. Come on Sunderland.
HA'WAY THE LADS MACKEMS ATTACKEM We're really getting into our stride now, reading Cowley it's evident teams are now sitting up and taking notice of us. We've lost one game where we were actually the better team. Nobody in this league is going to give us a drubbing. And we are still improving. I'd be shocked if we lose more than 5 games this season.
RTB Portsmouth are looking to kick start their season and we usually find them tough opposition. However we are on a good run and lets hope for a win. We have a couple of injuries and I would not be surprised if a similar team that won well on Tuesday starts on Saturday.
Portsmouth is a port city and naval base on England’s south coast, mostly spread across Portsea Island. It’s known for its maritime heritage and Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. The dockyard is home to the interactive National Museum of the Royal Navy, the wooden warship HMS Victory, where Nelson died in the Battle of Trafalgar, and HMS Warrior 1860. The Tudor ship Mary Rose is also conserved in a dockyard museum. Quite a few famous people from Pompey including Peter sellers. Roger Black, and impressive oldies, Isambard Brunel, Charles Dickens, Arthur Conan Doyle, Rudyard Kipling, and H G Wells. And of course. Amanda Holden, WAD. Geeta Basra WAD. And Scottish widows model Amanda lamb , WAD. Ps, any pompey fans complaints about anything or anyone I've missed out. Tough shìt and fùck off .
Comfortable 4-0 win with 0'Nien booked in the last minute for volleying the ball into the section of the crowd where he was punched and kicked.
The only time I have passed through Portsmouth is to use the ferry to and from St Marlo... yes the journey from Mackemland is horrendous.
It was good to see the praise the Cheltenham supporters got for going on Tuesday ... ... but the extra distance on top, for us today, is like us driving to Leeds. The pundits are always happy to jump on Sunderland supporters, for leaving early, etc, but slow to recognise just how good the support really is. Taking over 2000 down to a decrepit stadium in the land that time forgot, in a monsoon, is commendable imo.
Important we keep 11 on the pitch for this one, Pompey will try really hard to provoke us so we must not bite, Luke....Keep our heads and play our normal passing game and we'll have too much for these and no injuries please would also be nice. Great thread again RTB, you and Clocky make following the match on here an absolute pleasure, thanks for all the great effort you put in.HTL
There can be few better match day threads than yours RTB, well done yet again , I have voted for a win but would reluctantly settle for a sedate draw, with no controversy realising that may not be the case as I expect a tight hard fought game tomorrow. Portsmouth are tough cookies on their own patch, irrespective of form, and the talk of fight from Cowley hints at what to expect, hope the referee is suitably alerted and stamps down firmly on the shenanigans that is bound to come from the likes of Curtis and Marquise, for that very reason I agree with Smug and think O/9, for his own good, should be rested and give way to Evans for this one.
