Sunderland welcome Middlesbrough to the Stadium of Light in the Championship. Last time out Sunderland lost at Plymouth and Middlesbrough drew with Preston. Sunderland made a single change to their starting 11 with captain Dan Neil returning in place of Alan Browne. Dan Ballard picked up an injury and left the ground on crutches. However he is expected to start. Ian Poveda was not on the bench as a result of a thigh strain picked up in the U21 game against Bilbao, Samed starts training this week and is unlikely to feature. Alan Browne has an injury and is out for at least this week. Middlesbrough are in tenth place on 8 points having won two, drawn two and lost one. The Teessiders took an early lead against Preston but were pegged back in the second half despite dominating the game. Riley McCree, Johhny Howsen and Vanden Berg are close to a return but Forrs is a doubt. Fry and Lenihan out injured and will not feature, while Smith, Bangra are both out till next year. Regis le Bris: "We scored twice and away - it's never easy to score and we did it. "But even during the first half when we thought we controlled the game, there was something in behind that we were not in our best shape today and we conceded to make it 2-2 and we had the strength to come back. "So we can say that was a good part at the end of the game, but at the end we conceded that third goal, so for us we are disappointed. "But we know that it's a process, it's still a young team, it's still a team who need to learn and today it was a new experience." Presser at 1pm on Thursday Michael Carrick: “I’m frustrated, we should have won the game. We were in good positions to win the game, we created enough to score more. “We didn’t give a lot away, there were a lot of good things that I think we will benefit from over time. But we want to kill teams off when we get them, push when we are 1-0 up. “Preston got the goal and it was a different game because they had something to hold on to. “It’s still early. There is a settling in period and I will take the positives. If we keep doing the right things we will be fine. “Every game we have played we have been the more dominant team in terms of chances created. We try to build the performance and put blocks in place to enable us to win.” Match Appointments Referee: SIMON HOOPER Assistant Referees: Adrian Holmes and Simon Long Fourth Official: James Bell Team Lineups: Sunderland AFC: (4-3-3) Patterson, Cirkin, Ballard, O’Nien, Hume, Neil, Jobe, Rigg, Mundle, Mayenda, Roberts Subs: Moore, Hjelde, Bennette, Mepham, Aleksic, Poveda, Isidor, Rusyn, Watson. Injured: Huggins, Seelt, Alese, Ballard, Samed, Abdullahi. Middlesbrough: (4-2-3-1) Dieng, Borges, Clarke, Edmundson, Ayling (c), Hackney, Barlaser, Azaz, Conway, jones, Lath Subs: Brynn, Burgzorg, Dijksteel, Doak, Gilbert, Hamilton, Hunt, McGree, Morris Injured: Fry, Lenihan, Smith, Bangura Betting Odds: Sunderland 7/5 Middlesbrough 7/4 Draw 12/5 Prutton Predicts: Wear Tees Teaser 2-2 My two pence: A surprise, or maybe that was an expected post manager of the month result in the ever-unpredictable Championship. A new challenge for RLB to bounce back from defeat with at least one change needed to the team as Browne is out injured. Ballard is expected to play. Boro have their own injury problems in defence but a few players could return for this game. I’m going for a 2-1 home win. Live Stream: https://www.safc.com/live Live on Sky Sports Football. Ha’way the Lads
Miss this one as down to Cornwall to see new great granddaughter and great grandson's birthday. Aim to be in Launceston, Cornwall for 12 (stopping over in Bristol on Friday night) and hope grandson has found a pub with the match on.
Great work @RTB Looking forward to getting back to the SoL. We need a response after last week. I’d say score draw if I was pushed for a prediction but I’d love to win, we owe these one at home after last season. Ha’way the lads!
These always seem to give us a hard game. About time we got the rub of the green, expect a response from the lads to get us over the line, any score will do as long as it's in our favour.HTL.
Jesus - didn't realise we are playing Real Madrid this weekend. Boro fan massively confident about his own team despite 2 wins from 5 The only player he'd take from us is Dennis Cirkin, but that's only because they have injuries at LB
I suspect a tight game and a 1:1, but by god I hope we bounce back from last week and smash the ****ers.
Another great thread. Back to looking forward to what might be, not what might have been. A couple of changes likely I suspect. Hoping Mepham is ready to slot in. Maybe Browne in, to solidify things in midfield, although I wouldnt be surprised if he stuck with the first choice 3, arguably they deserve another crack at it. Stick wity Mayenda up top
Looks like Mepham will play, didn't someone say Browne had a protective boot on at the talk in? He might miss out as well and keep Rigg in. I'll go 2-1 to us.
Still believe Boro will be right up there come the end of the season. Tough game but one we can definitely win. Hopefully the high press returns and we can put pressure on Clarke and Edmundson who I don’t believe are great on the ball
RLB Ballard is OK, Browne at least 1 week out The difference between a win and a defeat is still very fragile If the shape and the details are very strong we can avoid this type of defeat We needed to face a new challenge and we need to adapt quickly Sometimes the confidence becomes stronger and we don't need to pay attention - this is not the case The balance and control during the game is different We can improve with experience and improving young players I have experience of local rivalries with Lorient - it's not a derby They are well organised and play very narrow, we have specific tactics for this game The link with the players and the fans is very important, Mundle's action against Plymouth changed the atmosphere of the match We need to keep the mindset with a willingness to win, we didn't control the game enough and our organisation wasn't the best. We had 3 sessions to analyse the game with the players Middlesbrough are good in possession and well structured, we know how they could beat us and we know how to avoid that. A significant event can change the outcome of the game we have to get this experience. The taste of defeat is different, we can't win them all but we need to develop and improve We need to bring the crowd with us, we need to press early and change the atmosphere
Thanks again RTB for another top thread, hoping for a performance to match from start to finish , it will need to be against this lot. OaU.
Yeah all been a bit stop/start for him. Same team as last week I reckon then. Need a much improved performance.
glad Ballard is going to be ok pity about Browne hopefully we much better than last week sure needs to be hard game
This will be a tricky game ... ... for Boro. They've won half the games we have and scored half the goals. Their only wins were narrow ones against Welsh teams so that's not much to shout about Great to be at home again, I thought our nickname would be changed to 'The Nomads' over the last month. Ha'way the Lads, 2-0 and back to the top of the table
