.... and crowd speculation. The way things are going we should have a crowd of 33,333 with about 1000 from Preston. We've had trouble down there, in the past, but I can't remember then popping their heads above the parapet in Sunderland. Let's hope the home supporters get another 'Rotherham' in a game which should see us remain in the top six ... ... I'm sure everyone will be hoping to see the likes of Ba turning out, it was great at Watford. Simms should be fit so the team selection will be interesting.
I'm raging. I was really keen on traveling down to watch the game ... then found out the trains are on strike. I'd be pulling my hair out if I had any.
Michut, Bass and Wright could get a game for u21s v Boro. Its away at their place, hopefully they get some much needed minutes.
Excellent, should be a great atmosphere again. Preston are struggling to score so an early Sunderland goal would set things up micely.
They haven't conceded a goal yet in 4 away league games (2 wins, 2 draws) so it would be nice to destroy that record.
The team deserve a big crowd in for this one, they’ve been excellent. Think we’ll push towards 40K with Preston bringing 2500+ up…
31700 ish sold so far. Plus whatever they sell and corporate to add on... https://safcticketing.azurewebsites.net/api/tickets
Got me tickets, not sure who's more excited me or the lad! Proper club Preston, looking forward to this one, be a good test for us from an attacking perspective, they'll let us have the ball and defend well. Think we'll win like!
That link ain't working for me now, says token has expired? Agree with the crowd hitting 33k, could even reach 35 if they have 2.5
I remember we went to Preston, from Mansfield, in the 80's. We were so naive and didn't have the contact that NE based lads had with each other. We travelled independently, parked where we could easily leave for Mansfield and went to whatever pub looked the least threatening. On one occasion we turned up and all the pubs were closed so we ended up at a jumble sale attached to a Working Men's Club that was serving. We had a few pints, a plate of pie and mash and walked out wearing owld wive's hats and coats. We strolled to the ground and went in with no bother. Once we were in we met up with lads from the Peterlee area, and others, who'd been ambushed by Preston gangs carrying knives. That was something I've never seen Sunderland lads doing and even the hard lads were obviously a bit shaken. Everyone agreed that, once outside, there'd be no mucking about and any Preston looking for trouble would get it. As we left the ground there were loads of them but they soon realised we weren't the soft touch we were as disparate bunches of daft lads just going to watch the match. A few of the Preston lads outstayed their welcome and were absolutely battered which they deserved imo. We left the area and turned left, for our car, while the Sunderland lads turned right for the coaches. That was a regular occurrence for us and we had to fend off a few attacks on the way. A weird day that started off with us laughing with Doris's at a WI jumble sale and ended by dodging lunatics flashing knives at us ... ... it was a different world then.
Just had a quick look at Preston's stats and they're a bit strange. Their last three games have been at home where they only managed a single point. In each game they've only had three attempts on target scoring only once. I'm not one for believing in jinxes so I'm going to say, that's rotten form. Having said that, fair play to them for bringing 3000 supporters when their last home game only had around 16,000 of them ... ... the draw of watching Sunderland seems to be spreading