Aiming to bounce back following their heaviest defeat of the season, Sunderland will welcome Bristol City to the Stadium of Light for a Championship clash on Saturday afternoon.
The Black Cats were thumped in the North-East by Blackburn Rovers on a woeful Easter Monday for the hosts, whilst Bristol City recorded a victory over Plymouth Argyle on the same afternoon.
Match preview
© Reuters
Ever since the sacking of Tony Mowbray as head coach and the arrival of Michael Beale into the Stadium of Light hotseat, Sunderland's season has experienced more highs than lows, and supporters will be hoping that Monday's 5-1 defeat to Blackburn will be the worst that it gets this campaign.
Interim boss Mike Dodds described his side's performance as "pathetic" as they went four goals down due to goals from Ryan Hedges, Tyrhys Dolan and two from Sammie Szmodics, with 16-year-old Chris Rigg reducing the deficit for the hosts before Andy Moran capped off a brilliant afternoon for John Eustace's strugglers.
Following an appearance in the Championship playoffs last season under the expert leadership of Mowbray, a chaotic season for the Black Cats - and the departure of key men in the summer - has left them marooned in mid-table with six matches to play, with Saturday's hosts 13 points behind sixth-placed Norwich City.
A shining light in a fairly-faltering campaign for Sunderland has been former Tottenham Hotspur man Jack Clarke, who netted 15 second-tier goals in 34 appearances before suffering an ankle ligament injury in the middle of February, leaving his side especially light in terms of game winners at the top end of the pitch.
The Black Cats' record of 10 home wins from 20 Championship matches at the Stadium of Light is respectable, but Dodds's men have been too easy to beat on their own patch at the same time, losing on nine occasions in the North-East - the same number that League One-bound Rotherham United have been defeated at their AESSEAL New York Stadium base.
© Reuters
After a worrying run of four-straight defeats which ended their chances of making a last-gasp push for the playoffs, Bristol City now have collected nine points from their last four Championship matches, including three at the home of Plymouth on Easter Monday following some brave management from Liam Manning.
Sensing his side needed a change of personnel for the second period, the 38-year-old boldly made three alterations at the half-time break - one of which being striker Nahki Wells, who came up with the game-winning moment in the 57th minute, netting his fourth goal of the second-tier term.
Following three-successive bottom-half finishes in the Championship, the Robins are hitting a patch of form at the perfect time as they attempt to achieve a top-12 placement in 2023-24, with Saturday's visitors 12th in the league standings, two points ahead of Sunderland in 13th ahead of this weekend's trip to the Stadium of Light.
In the absence of a talismanic figure at the top end of the field, Bristol City have shared the goalscoring responsibility around their ranks this term, with centre-back Rob Dickie having five league goals to his name, but it is striker Tommy Conway who leads the club's Golden Boot race with seven Championship goals.
The Robins have collected four points from their last two league visits to the Stadium of Light, last winning at Sunderland in 2017, when goals from Bobby Decordova-Reid and Milan Djuric secured a 2-1 success over Simon Grayson's Black Cats.
Team News
© Reuters
Sunderland's leading marksman Clarke returned to the bench for the loss to Blackburn and should be drafted into the starting XI for the visit of Bristol City.
With natural striker Nazariy Rusyn out of action due to a calf injury, Jobe Bellingham has been tasked with leading the Black Cats' line in recent matches, and the brother of Jude Bellingham could be utilised in a similar way on Saturday afternoon.
After such an insipid display versus Blackburn last time out, Dodds is expected to make a number of alterations to his XI, with the likes of Romaine Mundle and Adil Aouchiche set to be dropped.
Bristol City are sweating over the fitness of Burnley loanee Scott Twine, who suffered a knock during the victory at Plymouth on Easter Monday.
The Robins will certainly be without Taylor Gardner-Hickman, though, with the former West Bromwich Albion youngster last featuring for City on his return to The Hawthorns prior to the international break.
Manning may reward the players who arrived into Monday's match at half time and inspired a victory, meaning that midfielder Joe Williams and Mark Sykes could be promoted from the bench.
Sunderland possible starting lineup:
Patterson; Hume, O'Nien, Ballard, Hjelde; Rigg, Neil; Roberts, Dack, Clarke; Bellingham
Bristol City possible starting lineup:
O'Leary; Vyner, Dickie, Roberts; Sykes, Knight, Williams, Pring; Mehmeti, Conway, Wells
We say: Sunderland 2-1 Bristol City
As bad as the performance against Blackburn was on Easter Monday, we believe that the injection of Clarke and Bradley Dack into the starting XI could fire Sunderland towards three points this weekend.
Bristol are aiming for three-straight wins, but we feel that the Robins' problem with consistency will rear its ugly once again at the Stadium of Light.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Carter White
