ricco is 50/50 bardo should be fit, mensah may be involved, as taken of safc.com but good that damien duff is still out, cos he's a canny player. not gonna be an easy game as fulham have some decent players, but fortunately they seem pretty crap away from home, hoping sess can get the better of chris baird, who i rate as one of the better defenders in the league, and steed to do a number on his former club. usually one of the lowest scoring fixtures in the league, but with the change of personell, hopefully it will upset fulhams game plan, we don't know who's playing so i expect mark hughes is scratching his head, as to who his team faces. catts get to grips with dempsey. as this is going to be the key to the match.
Early match report.. Turner and Ned had best game in CB with Elmo and Bardo bombing down the wing non stop. Catts and Colback dominated midfield and stoped every Fulham attack. Henderson,Steed and Muntari had blinders rotating in supporting Sess who had his best game by far. Sunderland deserved their 3-0 win, it could have been a lot more.
honestly reckon this game depends on catts stopping dempsey, watch out for hangeland on set pieces, he's a big bugger,
Ripped from BBC..... Sunderland have a forward crisis with none of their senior strikers fit, which means Stephane Sessegnon could take a lone role up front. Full-back Phil Bardsley has recovered from concussion but John Mensah and Anton Ferdinand are doubtful. Defender Philippe Senderos could make his Fulham debut after recovering from a serious Achilles injury. Bobby Zamora and Andrew Johnson will be pushing for starts after coming on as substitutes in the last two games. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunderland Doubtful: Ferdinand (hamstring), Mensah (groin), Richardson (calf) Injured: Bramble, Campbell, Gordon, Meyler & Noble (all knee), Gyan & Welbeck (both hamstring), Welbeck (hamstring) Fulham Doubtful: Duff (Achilles) MATCH PREVIEW Sunderland manager Steve Bruce enjoyed a much-needed win against one of his former clubs last weekend; now he is hoping for another by getting the better of one of his former team-mates. We've had a terrible run but we have a great chance now to finish in the top 10 Sunderland manager Steve Bruce Fulham manager Mark Hughes might have something to say about that - his teams have been unbeaten the last three times the managers have met - although his last victory was somewhat bitter-sweet as he was sacked by Manchester City a couple of hours after they beat Sunderland 4-3 in 2009. A first win in 10 games should be enough to ensure Sunderland's safety but Bruce will be keen to keep up the winning momentum to ensure a top-half finish. Hughes has a similar aim, saying after Fulham's midweek win over Bolton that the Cottagers "deserve to be in the top 10" - another victory over his former captain would be a major step towards achieving that aim.
Be interesting to see Sess & Steed playing upfront. Probably 2 of the most skill full players we have, with the ball at their feet. Unfortunately Steed is not the best player on goal. Hopefully they can exploit some weaknesses in Fulham defence so Hendo & Muntari can have some shots on goal.
That would be the hope with playing Steed in behind Sess mate. He's good at spraying it about into the path of oncoming midfielders (won't say forwards, cos we got none!). I fancy Muntari to have a good game today BTW, Welcome to the board mate. If you have a sense of humour (which I'm sure you do as a Sunderland supporter), you'll enjoy the craic on here!
SB has got to try and get the balance right we need to play to OUR strengths and not put a different team/formation out to suit the opposition. Still reckon on a draw for this and, a very tough game. Having said that our luck changed slightly last week and we are due a good result against Fulham who while a decent side are on about the same level as us. We start to beat teams around us and we'll climb here's hoping for a good game bags of effort from the lads and a continuation of the performances we've seen over the last couple of games. Well off now lads lets hope it's happy Teddy Bears again tonight and get some dancing done.
Team news: Sunderland: Mignolet, Elmohamady, Bardsley, Onuoha, Turner, Muntari, Henderson, Cattermole (C), Colback, Malbranque, Sessegnon. Subs: Carson, Zenden, Riveros, Ferdinand, Lynch, Adams, Mensah. ... Fulham: Schwarzer, Baird, Salcido, Hughes, Senderos, Kakuta, Davies, Murphy (C), Sidwell, Zamora, Gudjohnsen. Subs: Stockdale, Kelly, A Johnson, Etuhu, Greening, Dembele, Hoesen.
