Sunderland will continue their 2016-17 Premier League campaign at Southampton on Saturday (KO 3pm).
The luckless Black Cats have suffered back-to-back defeats in their opening top-flight games, with David Moyes’ squad decimated by injuries from defence to attack.
Despite this there were positives in outings against Manchester City and Middlesbrough, with the club's first win coming on Wednesday evening in the EFL Cup against Shrewsbury Town.
Adnan Januzaj scored the only goal of the encounter sending a stunning strike into the top corner late on, and the winger is once again expected to feature when Sunderland head to the south coast.
New signing Javier Manquillo is also set to make his debut with Moyes confirming the defender is likely to start in his pre-match press conference.
Unfortunately Vito Mannone will not play a part against Saints, with the stopper ruled out for a minimum of three months after tearing ligaments in his elbow.
John O’Shea (hip) and Lamine Kone (back) will be assessed on Friday afternoon with Fabio Borini (toe) in contention, but the Black Cats will once again be without Billy Jones (hip), Lee Cattermole (double hernia), Seb Larsson (knee) and Jan Kirchhoff (hamstring).
Jordan Pickford will start.
Southampton are expected to have Oriol Romeu at their disposal despite the midfielder suffering a knock against Manchester United, with England international Ryan Bertrand pushing for his first appearance of the campaign.
Managed by Claude Puel, Saints started their season with a 1-1 draw at home to Watford before falling to defeat at Old Trafford as Zlatan Ibrahimovic stole the show.
The Black Cats’ last trip to St Mary’s ultimately ended in disappointment as Virgil van Djik netted a late equaliser, but it was a point that would end up being valuable as Sunderland escaped the drop by two points.
Saturday's match will take place at 3pm with comprehensive coverage available on safc.com and on Twitter by following @SunderlandAFC.
Supporters can also listen live via the official website with Nick Barnes and Gary Bennett taking you through all the action.
Match betting odds with Dafabet
Jermain Defoe to score first now 10/1 (was 8/1)
Adnan Januzaj to score anytime now 9/2 (was 15/4)
Sunderland to win and under 2.50 goals now 11/1 (was 17/2)
Sunderland to win and both teams to score now 14/1 (was 12/1)
Visit Dafabet’s official website for more odds
Odds are correct at time of publishing and are subject to change. T&C’s apply. Please gamble responsibly. 18+
