Match Day Thread Sunderland v Accrington Stanley - Friday 15th February - KO 19:45

Sunderland host Accrington Stanley in League One

Last time out Sunderland drew with Blackpool and Accrington lost to Scunthorpe

Sunderland face Accrington in the second home game in 4 days, the Black Cats needing maximum points to get back on track and keep pace with the top two.
Duncan Watmore will be unavailable for this game as its not possible for him to play two games in quick succession. Jack Ross also hinted that further changes could be made and there are a few other minor injury concerns.
Accrington Stanley sit at the bottom of the current form league table, having lost 4 out of their last 6 games and have failed to score a goal for 5 games.

Jack Ross:
“We’d probably have taken a point before the game, but there’s real disappointment and frustration in the dressing room that we haven’t got all three points.”
"I thought Duncan was a big part of us being much more effective in the final third. We've looked long and hard at that because we've been honest enough in recognising that we haven't created as much in the last five or six games.”
"Duncan won’t be involved tomorrow night. It’s a blow because his performance on Tuesday was very positive. It’s just the case we’re faced with as he continues to recover from two ACL injuries."
"Whoever gets their opportunity tomorrow evening, with some of the changes we'll have to make, then you just look for the same type of performance from them."


Match officials:
Referee: DARREN DRYSDALE
Assistants: Nik Barnard and Anthony Moore
Fourth Official : Martin Coy

Team Line ups
Sunderland: McLaughlan, O’Nien, Flanagan, Dunne, Baldwin, James, Leadbitter, Honeyman, Maguire, Grigg, Wyke

Subs: Ruiter, Matthews, McGeady, Gooch, Sterling, Power, Morgan
Injured: Love, Loovens, Cattermole

Accrington: Maxted, Johnson, Hughes, Richards-Everton, Donacien, Clarke, Conneely, Barlaser, McConville, Smyth, Kee
Subs: Evtimov, Nolan, Brown, Zanzala, Rodger, Gibson, Armstrong

Prutton predicts: 2-0

Betting Odds:
H 4/6 A 4/1 D 13/5

My two pence:
Jack needs to start with a similar formation to the one that finished the Blackpool game. I’d go with Wyke and Grigg up top and try and batter them from the start. Then hit them with pace towards the end of the second half. The game is live on Sky from 19:00.
Kevin Phillips returns to the Stadium of Light and will take centre stage in the Black Cats Bar.

My guess is a 2-0 win.
Ha’way the Lads

 

1-1....

Joking aside I think it should be a win, I’ll agree 2-0

 

Can’t go on Friday so I’ve decided that if we play well and win I’m not going back as I must be a jinx!!








Well... until Tuesday at least

 

Got 1–1 written all over it.

Bart

 

Jack's comments about Duncan Watmore might suggest he's going to persevere with Grigg up top on his own.
He seems to have great faith in Duncan but at present were getting no end result from him and we need wins now.
Tricky problem just hope Jack isn't stubborn enough to ignore what we all can see, Grigg needs someone close to him, he needs help to get off the mark.
I'm still confident of a win as we're at last playing a team which isn't bang in form, 2-0 for me as well.

 

Agreed, if Watmore is in from the start from he should be out wide, not in place of Wyke. personally I would prefer Duncan to come on as a sub. for the time being, better for him to use his pace against tired legs.

 

Duncan not available as his recovery means he cannot play 2 games in a week. Tho he will be available for the Gillingham game. (Per the JR press conference today).

Over to Plan B.

Bart

 

I would start Sterling and play him for 60 mins then bring Grigg on. Watmore could do say 70 mins then Kimpioka on. We should win both these games at a canter and finally get above Portsmouth.

 

Don;t know why you bother! Mr Negative being so arrogant saying we should win at a canter! ****ing hell man do us all a favour and do one! (As for the Grigg comment! )

 

Surely he's been too optimistic not negative?

On paper we should easily beat them, problem is that paper doesn't mean anything.

Re RTBs team, I'd swap oviedo or Morgan on for James, and possibly Sterling for maguire

 

Think we're going to snap out of this one goal a game bollocks and win 3-0

 

I'm all for pragmatism but our opposition are allowed to pass the ball around and become comfortable playing in the stadium with a big crowd.

We have to unsettle them from the start and the only way is to play the game in their half.

Get past them and win some early free kicks and corners so the crowd have something to get excited about.

Let's make the crowd work in our favour, not the opposition's.

 

Jack Ross will be without Duncan Watmore for Friday night’s Sky Bet League One clash against Accrington Stanley.
Watmore, who played his first full game of senior football since returning from his second ACL injury on Tuesday night, impressed as the Lads produced an improved attacking display of late.
However, the 24-year-old will miss the Stanley match as his recovery doesn’t quite allow him to play two games in such quick succession.
"He won't be involved tomorrow night, which is a blow for us because obviously his performance was so positive," Ross said.
"The reality of his recovery is that it's not possible for him to play two games in as quick succession as that - not that it will be the case for him indefinitely.
"It is the case when you're recovering from an ACL injury and when you're recovering from two in such a short period then the recovery time between games tends to be longer.
"So he will be back available for the Gillingham fixture next Tuesday, but won't be for tomorrow evening."
FRIDAY FEELING
The weekend starts at the Stadium of Light this Friday, with Hadrian’s Tipi opening in the SAFC Fan Zone from 5.30pm ahead of the Lads’ clash with Accrington Stanley.
Open pre and post-match, the Tipi was a big hit during Tuesday’s game against Blackpool, so get on down and enjoy a pint by the fire ahead of kick-off!
Tickets for the game against Accy remain on sale, with prices starting from just £20 for adults and £7.50 for under-16s.

 

I felt so much fir him. He did the hard work then messed up the easy bit.itll come thought I’m sure

 

Yeah - it's easily done but I hope he can bounce back and get his first goal tomorrow.

 

I’ve seen Ronaldo, Messi, Pogba, Kevin Phillips all miss that type of chance. Aguero even missed an easier one than it at the weekend. It happens and I’m sure he’ll move on.

 

Honeyman needs to be playing in the 10 role as he was key to our success earlier in the season and Morgan needs to be in the side simply because he's Ross' player. A midfield pairing of Leadbitter and McGeouch or Leadbitter and O'Nien would probably work best. Up front, Sterling should start. Someone (Donald perhaps) said he was very similar to Maja so we can play a game that should be familiar to the team. I think he'll prove to be a better signing than Grigg, even though he'll have to go back to Spurs at the end of the season.

 

My main hope for tonight is that Catts is back

I haven't checked any stats, and I won't, but it seems to me that we've missed his tenacity and leadership, and we've almost stopped winning since he was injured (again).

Unfortunately, he's got a problem with injuries and he's not getting any younger, but we were nearly all saying that he was our best player (not just midfielder) before we 'lost' him, and we need him.

We've tried McGeouch, Power, and lately young Grant as 'stop gaps' but none have been as capable of doing his job

Playing one of Goochy coochy coo or the Honeymonster makes some sense, to me, but never both 'cos they're too small and similar, and I'd like to see Maguire back 'cos he's better than both of them

I've read favourable comments about Captain Morgan, and he came with a reputation for having lots of pace and skill, but I haven't seen any of either yet and I'm hoping that he'll improve quickly 'cos he's, for me, done absolutely nothing so far

We seem to have a very good team, for this level, somewhere, and we need to find it now (well Jack does)

 

I think that this will be the game that we hammer someone - I'm going 4-0