Sunderland welcome Millwall to the Stadium of Light in the Championship. Last time out Sunderland lost at Coventry and Millwall beat Stoke. The Black Cats lost 3-0 to Coventry and were second best all over the park as they struggled to cope with the pace and strength of Hadji-Wright. Trai Hume, Jobe, Mayenda, Rigg & Mepham are available after international duty. Le Fée and Hjelde are not available but could be back after this weekend. Cirkin could be out for 3 more weeks. Mihailo Ivanovic's last-minute penalty gave Millwall victory over struggling Stoke City. The game was moments away from ending as a stalemate until Ben Willmot was adjudged to have pulled Josh Coburn down in the box as he looked to get on to Wes Harding's long throw. Ex Black Cats, George Honeyman and Duncan Watmore are both injured, Aaron Connolly could start or will be on the bench. Regis le Bris: "Coventry were good, very good. They were intense, with the ability to create chances through different ways. "We were prepared for that tactically, but on the pitch it wasn't possible because our intensity wasn't high enough. "We were not good in duels, to second balls and we had many turn-overs so we didn't control anything. "So it's a bad afternoon, but at the same time it is a good reminder for us because this league is tough and we have strong opponents to face. It showed that when we are at that level we are punished." Press Conference: Alex Neil: "Whether it's a penalty or not, we've all been victims of decisions across the season, but I thought it was no more than we deserved for our second-half performance. "At this level, a lot of games are defined by key moments – whether you take that chance, whether it was a penalty, whether you can execute that pass, get that strike away. "It was a really pleasing win [because] you're playing against a team that's fighting for their life at this stage of the season. "They got a really good win during the week, they've got a really strong squad – half of that squad I put together, so there's some really good players in there, but for us that was an excellent win." Form: Match Appointments Referee: ROBERT MADLEY Assistant referees: Blake Antrobus & Mark Dwyer Fourth official: Tom Nield Team Lineups: Sunderland AFC: (4-2-3-1) Patterson, O’Nien, Seelt, Mepham, Hume, Neil, Jobe, Rigg, Mundle, Roberts, Mayenda. Subs: Moore, Johnson, Bainbridge, Browne, Jones, Middlemas, Aleksic, Isidor, Watson. Injured: Huggins, Alese, Danns, Ballard, Poveda, Samed, Abdullahi, Cirkin, Hjelde, Le Fee. Millwall: (4-4-2) Jensen, Bryan, Cooper, Tanganga, Crama, Emakhu, Mitchell, De Norre, Bangura-Williams, Coburn, Ivanovich. Subs: Connolly, Cundle, Evans, Harding, Kendle, Matthews, Sturge, Saville, Wintle Injured: Langstaff, Neghli, Azeez, Watmore, Honeyman. Betting Odds: Sunderland 8/5 Millwall 21/4 Draw 15/4 Prutton Predicts: meh My two pence: At least some of the players have had a bit of a rest after the poor performance at Coventry. However, there is no let-up in this league and if you are not fully focussed you get beat. I see from his post-match comments that Alex Neil has not changed one bit. Yes Alex, those ‘really good players’ – that you bought are in a relegation battle I’d really love to have a resounding win against his team, we need the crowd to get behind our team and give the snake the kind of reception that he deserves after walking away. I’m going for a 2-0 home win. Live Stream: https://www.safc.com/live Ha’way the Lads
Missed these. I actually like international breaks compared to most but nothing beats SAFC for me. Tough game. Neil has had joy against us since leaving and i'm sure he'll be in for an interesting reception. Patterson Hume Mepham O'Nien Hjelde Rigg Neil Jobe Mayenda Isidor Mundle Relying on Hume and Hjelde being fit. Hope Le Fee is back soon even if it's not Saturday, need his creativity. 2-1. Mayenda brace.
Neil's record at the SOL since he left is won 3... scored 10, conceeded 2... time for a change. 2-1 to the lads... Hhhaaa'wwwwaaaaayyyyyy the lads
Good to be back RTB. Thanks for another belter. I have enjoyed the internationals, always do. But these threads are great and much busier with the banter and opinion. I am hoping Rigg and Jobe come back buzzing. Both have boosted their profile these last 2 weeks. They should be in good form. Play them both I say. Hope Hume is ok, he has been a star recently for us. Maybe controversial but I think Mayenda as our 9 makes us a better side than Isidor does. He is more involved, better back to goal and offers different passing angles. I would be going with him in these upcoming games. That said, I get the love for Isidor and have no grumbles if he plays. We do need to be more direct for him to shine though. Haway the lads. I am due to come up for this one. Was at Cov, so maybe should stay away. So long as I get some house stuff sorted Friday I will make the pilgrimage.
Just remembered how devastated I was leaving their ground in the reverse fixture back in November. Horrible feeling conceding so late
Really not sure why our form has slipped in the second half of the season as the effort seems to be there but maybe the confidence has slipped a bit. I mentioned mental fatigue a while back and I still believe the fans are the ones who drive the team on, probably more than most believe If the fans believe and get behind the team then there is nothing stopping us winning this one and putting a run of form together at just the right time. So for me it is over to you! The fans in the ground, to give these lads the belief and support they have earned this season. If you do I am predicting a 3-0 win and at a time when morale needs a boost.
It's our branch 50th anniversary event Saturday, so hoping the lads can give us 3 points to help celebrations. Couple of early goals to settle everyone, then dominate and control the game before a couple more second half would be lovely. Isidor, Mundle, Roberts and Jobe would do me as scorers
The season started off exciting then became a bit of a procession to the play-offs ... ... I think it's about to become really interesting again. I have a feeling Le Bris will be gearing up to have the players being less cautious and really going for teams. I think the crowd needs, and deserves, a good home performance and seeing some real attacking play. We have the players we need to beat teams like Millwall, now's the time Lads.
3pm kick off and I don't have the bairns this weekend, going to make the most of this rarity! Town for 12 and maybe a couple after...depending on the result.
