Sunderland travel to Southampton in the Championship. Last time out Sunderland lost at home to Leicester and Southampton beat Birmingham. The Black Cats dropped to 11th place and are now 10 points off a play-off spot and 9 points ahead of Stoke in the relegation zone. Mike Dodds will be without his captain Luke O’Nien after he picked up his 10th yellow card for the season and misses the next 2 games. Corry Evans is back in training with Dack and Alese not far away from a return but probably not in time for this game. However, Clarke, Cirkin, Huggins, Roberts and Embleton remain on the injured list. Trai Hume is one booking away from a 2-match suspension but the slate is wiped clean after this game. Southampton will want to avenge their 5-0 mauling by the Black Cats earlier in the season. The Hampshire club will be keen to make up lost ground on their quest for the top 2 automatic places. Ross Stewart remains on the injured list. Kyle Walker-Peters is also out and will not be risked. Southampton’s midweek game with Preston was postponed due to a fire in an industrial unit near to St. Mary’s Stadium but the blaze was soon brought under control. Mike Dodds: "That's five on the bounce now, and we have to buck that trend. I think we gave a snapshot of how I, and the team want to play, in the second half. "I thought in the first half Leicester moved the ball so quickly, and scored in that spell, but I felt we got a level of control towards the end of the half. "In the second half we were sensational. We gave them no attacking opportunities whatsoever. "I feel that one win will lead to two, three, and four wins. But at the moment it's just not falling for us, and I am very conscious of the fact there's three 'L's' in my three games in charge." Russell Martin: "I'd rather not win in the last minute, but it's down to togetherness and spirit, and also the amount of work. "They make teams have to run really, really hard. It tires people out. "To play the way we play you have to be a bit vulnerable sometimes with the ball. It's a bit scary. But I've loved watching it. And that spirit will help us for sure in the last quarter of the season." Form: Match Appointments: Referee: STUART ATTWELL Assistant Referees: Harry Lennard & Richard West Fourth Official: Ed Duckworth Team Lineups: Sunderland AFC: (4-4-2) Patterson, Hume, Seelt, Ballard, Hjelde, Ba, Rigg, Neil, Mundle, Aouchiche, Rusyn. Subs: Bishop, Pembele, Burstow, Jobe, Styles, Ekwah, Kelly, Hemir, Injured: Huggins, Cirkin, Evans, Dack, Alese, Embleton, Roberts, Clarke Unavailable: O’Nien Southampton (4-3-3) Bazunu, Harwood-Bellis, Stephens, Bednarek, Manning, Smallbone, Downes, S Armstrong, Brooks, A Armstrong, Adams. Subs: Aribo, Lumley, Bree, Mara, Rothwell, Sulemana, Edozie, Charles, Dibling Injured: Fraser, Stewart, Larios, Walker-Peters. Betting Odds: Sunderland 11/2 Southampton 4/9 Draw 15/4 Prutton Predicts: meh My two pence: After another defeat we need a result from somewhere. Southampton totally dominated their last game and had 78% possession against Birmingham. At this stage I’ll take less than 22% possession in exchange for a point or three. I was dreading this game after the run we’ve been on but if we play like we did in the second half against Leicester then I’m a bit more hopeful. I’m going for a 1-1 draw. Live Stream: Available to overseas fans https://safc.com/news/team-news/live-video Press conference for this fixture is probably on Thursday at 1 - 1:30pm Ha’way the Lads
Against all logic I think that this game will end 0.0 Just one of those things Watch it be a goal fest lol
Haway at some point we are going to trounce someone but 8 goals away from home may be a trifle optimistic
They've just lost at home to Millwall and Hull, so fck them ... ... let's go down there and let the quick lads loose on them. Ha'way Lads, 2 nowt and a great show for all those travelling.
Honestly don’t have a clue what to expect with this game we’re hard to work out sometimes we look absolutely brilliant others like a team of strangers. Pick the right team and shape and we’ve got every chance, keep starting slow and players all over the shop and we could get a hammering, Never dull supporting the lads that’s for sure.
I think that we are showing signs of recovery and our shape, the way we pressed and some of the chances created against probably the best team in the league should give us a bit more confidence going in to this one. I said a week or so ago I can accept draws and even some defeats if the energy and shape of play are better and against Leicester I think there were signs of this starting to happen. Confidence is key at this moment of the season and our young team will feed off that so I think if we can build into the game and not concede early then it will become more difficult for them to control the game, so I am going for a 0-2 more in hope than expectation, but I do think we are turning the corner.
A Southampton fan I talk to told me we’ve returned a block of tickets for this one. He’s surprised as we’ve always sold out down there. Maybe it’s just a sign of acceptance from the fans that the season is over. Anyway, well done to everyone that is making the journey. Quietly confident we’ll get something from this game and put Southampton out of the race for the automatic places. We don’t score many away from home but that’ll change here 1-3. Ballard and Rusyn (2)
Once again, we could play until midnight and not score. Listening to MD post Leicester, the bloke is deluded!! Don’t hang your hat on him picking the starting 11 that he should. 3-0 and another step towards the drop, Bart
So, whichever team he picks is the wrong one, even if we win ... why not see if the bookies will take your bet
Unfortunately I think you’re right. Hoping Dodds has learned a few things from the game against Leicester. If Jobe has to play I’d like to see him instead of Ekwah. He looked like a different player when he dropped deeper. If we play with no wingers again then Hemir is a complete waste of space as he doesn’t have the pace or willingness to chase a ball. I’d be tempted to play Mundle again up too.
Would be over the moon with a draw and a good performance then take that into next week pick up 3 and we can all relax and watch the rest of the season play out
I'd go: Patterson Hume Seelt Ballard Hjelde Rigg Neil Styles Mundle Rusyn Aouchiche Could maybe play Aouchiche behind Rusyn and bring Ba in on the left, but be tempted to stay a bit more compact against a good team. Only so much we can do when we are missing so many good players
Probably the team id go for as well but what i would say is i thought Jobe did well when he dropped to CM the other night
