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Sunderland welcome Stoke City to the Stadium of Light in the Championship.
Last time out Sunderland lost at Sheffield United and Stoke lost at home to Burnley.
Sunderland named an unchanged lineup to face the blades. The Black Cats started well but failed to capitalise when Patrick Roberts had his first half penalty saved. Sunderland could have been punished when Mepham was sent off for a foul just outside the area. However, a moment of madness by Soutter brought the contest level as he was given a second yellow. Ex-Everton man Tom Davies proved to be the unlikely hero, five minutes after coming on when he hit a firm shot that beat an unsighted Patterson.
Chris Mepham is suspended after his red card and Luke O’Nien is expected to return to the centre of defence. Dennis Cirkin is available for selection.
Huggins, Seelt, Samed, Poveda, Mundle, Browne & Abdullahi remain injured.
Stoke lost 2-0 at home to an in-form Burnley side who climbed to 2nd place with goals from Rodriguez and Brownhill.
Former Black Cat, Lyndon Gooch will be very keen to start but he was an unused substitute in the defeat to the Clarets.
Regis le Bris:
"We are frustrated at the end of the game, because we demonstrated a good level against one of the strongest teams in the league.
"We controlled the game and we were dominant but we didn't score.
"I hope we can keep this mindset because we have a good level, but we have to find some details to change the dynamic.
"We created chances, so it's a shame. We did well but it was not enough."
Presser at 1pm on Thursday:
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Narcis Pelach:
"In the last 10 minutes [of the first half] we were very good and we got a little bit of momentum.
"But then in the second half, when they score, of course it goes down a little bit because it’s more difficult.
"We changed formation again to try to be more aggressive.
"And yeah, it's a pity because then the second goal, with the penalty, the game is gone and they have quality, they have a lot of talent in their squad and in the changes that they do."
Form:
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Match Appointments
Referee: CRAIG PAWSON
Assistant Referees: Marc Perry & Bhupinder Singh Gill
Fourth Official: Leigh Doughty
Team Lineups:
Sunderland AFC: (4-3-3) Patterson, Cirkin, Ballard, O’Nien, Hume, Neil, Jobe, Rigg, Watson, Mayenda, Isidor,
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Subs: Moore, Hjelde, Johnson, Roberts, Alese, Aleksic, Aouchiche, Rusyn, Connolly.
Injured: Huggins, Seelt, Samed, Abdullahi, Browne, Mundle, Cirkin.
Suspended: Mepham
Stoke City (3-5-2) Johansson, Gibson, Phillips, Wilmot, Bocat, Jun-Ho, Burger, Seko, Tchamadeu, Manhoef, Cannon.
Subs: Koumas, Moran, Vidigal, Gooch, Bonham, Tezgel, Sidibe, Rose, Thompson
Injured: Gallagher, Lawal, Pearson.
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Betting Odds:
Sunderland 3/4 Stoke City 18/5 Draw 5/2
Prutton Predicts: meh
My two pence:
A good performance against leaders Sheffield United but we just couldn’t score a goal despite the possession and opportunities. We need to get a few wins on the board to avoid losing more ground with the teams around us.
It will be good to see Gooch make an appearance, as long as he doesn’t score. Hopefully our injury list gets a bit shorter over the next few weeks.
Stoke are no mugs but we should have enough to get the win this one.
I’m going for a 2-0 home win.
Live Stream:
Live on Sky Sports+
https://www.safc.com/live
Available to overseas fans only
Ha’way the Lads
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