Sunderland welcome Morecambe in the SkyBet League One. Last time out Sunderland drew with Oxford and Morecambe beat Buxton. Sunderland were unable to find the winning goal against Oxford United in a hard fought game at the stadium of Light. The Black Cats missed out on the chance to capitalise on a game in hand against a team suffering from the after-effects of a Covid outbreak when a win would have seen them go joint-top of the table. In the second half, Lee Johnson switched from a back five to a back four and Oxford struggled to adapt, with boss Karl Robinson admitting that his team played into Sunderland's hands. League One top scorer Cole Stockton was on the scoresheet again for Morecambe with the only goal in the 29th minute to beat Buxton in the FA cup. Morecambe are in 20th position just above the relegation places. Lee Johnson "I thought that there was effort in both halves to be honest, we played better in the second half but the commitment and effort was there. "If you look at our bench today there's a nice narrative - with Embo (Elliot Embleton) and Dan Neil there were seven academy graduates involved. In one sense it speaks to the injury scenario and that leads to some players playing slightly out of position, so you have to credit these boys for how hard they have worked today. "On another day we win it comfortably, against a very good Oxford side that caused us problems in the first half. "We flipped the shape in the second half, decided to have a different square peg in a round hole, and I thought that it worked well, but unfortunately we just couldn't get the ball over the line - whether that was due to good goalkeeping, finishes that hit the bar and the post, or at times just failing to get that magic delivery. "I was pleased today with the performance and with the second half. There was a shape change at half-time, we put Bailey Wright at right-back, pushed Leon Dajaku up to right midfield, and dropped Lynden Gooch to left-back. "That's why you have to give these boys credit, because that's Dajaku playing out of position and scoring a goal, Gooch having to play right side and then left side, and then Bailey Wright slotting in at right-back despite being on a booking which made it a bit risky, but these are the things at the moment that we have to do. "I was positive with the players both at half-time and at the end of the game because I know how much they are putting in and how much effort they are giving. Steven Robinson: “It was a very professional performance, the weather took away any advantage we had, and I don’t think we have ever played in conditions as bad as that.” “We missed a lot of chances to make the game safe in the second half, but we are pleased to get through. The object before the game was just to get through, it didn’t matter how.” “Credit to Buxton, they pushed us. It was not easy today and the lads showed character.“We wanted to keep moving the ball and we knew that they would tire and we would get our chances. "It was all set up for a cup shock and credit to our players. A big Premier League side would be huge for us. “We are still trying establish ourselves as a League One infrastructure and the finances would be massive. “We are three years ahead of where we thought we would be and this would help us to keep growing.” Match Appointments: Referee: OLLIE YATES Assistant Referees: Christopher Ward and Ivan Stankovic Fourth Official: Matthew Dicicco Team Line ups Sunderland: Hoffmann, Dyce, Doyle, Flanagan, Wright, Dajaku, Neil, Pritchard, Gooch, Stewart, Broadhead. Subs: Patterson, Xhemajli, Winchester, Younger, Embleton, O’Brien, Kimpioka. Injured: Willis, Huggins, Hume, Cirkin, McGeady, O’Nien, Evans. Morecambe: Andrésson, McLaughlin, O'Connor, Delaney, Leigh, McLoughlin, Jones, McCalmont, McDonald, Stockton, Ayunga Subs: Diagouraga, Da Silva Mendes, Phillips, Cooney, Gibson, Gnahoua, Wootton Injured: tbc Betting Odds: Sunderland 4/9 Morecambe 11/2 Draw 10/3 My two pence: A draw against Oxford wasn’t too bad, but we really should have won it, hitting the woodwork twice in the second half. We need to keep an eye on Cole Stockton, who has 13 goals this season, but we should be able to out score them as their defence is not great. Only Fleetwood have conceded more goals than the Shrimpers. I’m going for a 3-1 home win. Live Stream https://www.safc.com/news/team-news/live-video Ha’way the Lads
Great thread again RTB, don't know how you do it, getting all these facts and figures. Thanks, always look forward to reading.
Great thread. They are not great. Won one league game in 2 months. We should apply pressure early and dominate the ball.
Morecambe score a lot but concede a lot. We also have a habit of helping out teams who haven't won in a while Start right and we win this comfortably. I'll go for 3-1
HA'WAY THE LADS MACKEMS ATTACKEM At graft for this one unfortunately. So I'll be checking on here with live score pinned. As long as I remember what fookin day of the week it is later Oh look I've already forgot, it's fooking Monday ffs Lee Lee give us the V Lee Lee give us the V Lee Lee give us the V Lee Lee give us the V VICTORY
Great stuff as always, got to be a home win tomorrow. Same shape as the second half v Oxford I think. Looks like another storm on the way tomorrow weather-wise. Snow and high winds forecast.
Will the match go ahead? 2nd match of the season missed. Going to York on the drink for a few days. Just win please. Nice pretty football would be a bonus but 3 points is all I ask. Get an early goal on a horrible night and they may just crumble. If the wind affects the game we have a lottery. We keep saying it but thanks once again for a great thread and the effort you put in RTB.
Bigger game than Oxford imo ... ... no excuses if we can't beat Eric without Ernie. Play like we did in the second half and we'll win. We just need to keep our nerve and stick together.
Weather looks appalling again. Even more important to play football and keep it below head height. When we play like that with tempo, we looks decent.
Home win and play like we allegedly did in the second half on Saturday. Cos I can’t remember the hower.
Hopefully the weather conditions won't be too bad inside the SOL compared to more open grounds like Fratton Park or Abbey Stadium I'm in 2 minds about this one, was frozen to the core against Oldham
Great thread RTB Your right about Stockton he is the league's top scorer in a team hovering around the relegation zone so he is a handful. Coming over with the son in law and Grandson weather permitting, our Jack will be gutted if we cry off as he's been to most of Morecambes home games in his first proper season as a regular attender, told him he'll be going home disappointed so comes on lads don't let me down, any score in our favour will do. Kirkstone Pass over here is already closed due to the snow so it's not looking good for getting over the A66 but we'll wait and see.HTL
Weather forecast is bloody grim for here tomorrow mate so stainmore will be a lot worse, so be careful
Hear we go again. Will Sunderland fans get behind the team and manager or will we once again follow the self destructive path that has become the norm in recent years?
I’ll always get behind the team no matter what I feel about the current situation. Booing players etc just puts more pressure on the squad and manager which in turn usually makes things worse. Doesn’t mean I’m happy with the current standard or tactics however. Far from it.
In the Ipswich and Oxford games there's been periods when the crowd has really got behind the team which is great to hear ... ... but, when we dip below 25000 the ground looks and feels wrong. I doubt Morecambe will contribute to the atmosphere much tbh.