Pre-season match #2
Sunday 9 July 2017, kick-off 2pm
Hibernian FC
Easter Road
As soon as Sunderland return home from their intense five-day training camp in Austria they’re faced with two fixtures in three days.
A match at League One club Bury on Friday 7 July is then followed by a trip north of the border to Edinburgh where they’ll face Hibernian.
Their trip to Easter Road marks the first of a six-day trip to Scotland which will see them play three games in total, including Livingston and St Johnstone also.
How they fared last season?
Hibernian did exactly what was asked of them last term. Promotion back to the Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership was the aim and they breezed to the championship crown, finishing 11 points clear of second placed Falkirk. With three defeats in 36 league matches, Hibernian haven’t tasted defeat in the league since the beginning of March. St Mirren beat them 2-0 that day, a defeat that was 13 games ago. Added to that, the Edinburgh-based club reached the semi-final of the Scottish Cup, only to be defeated 3-2 by Aberdeen.
Hot prospect Jason Cummings!
A sought after prospect, Jason Cummings has enjoyed a fabulous campaign and has scored the bulk of Hibs’ goals to fire them back to the Scottish top-flight. With 19 goals in 2274 minutes of match action this season, Cummings boasts a 64% shot accuracy and has also contributed four assists too.
The manager, Neil Lennon
A fine midfield competitor in his playing days at largely Crew Alexandra, Leicester City and Celtic, Neil Lennon is a well-regarded name in football. Now a manager, arguably Lennon’s greatest match in management was when his Celtic side defeated Barcelona at Paradise. On top of that, his success in the Scottish game is a sight to behold. With 11 honours as a player, Lennon has added to that with five more trophies as a manager, including three Scottish Premier League titles. Lennon was also named the SPL manager of the year in 2012.
Last time out at Easter Road for the Lads: Hibernian 0-0 Sunderland
Sunderland and Hibernian played out a goalless draw in August 2011 at Easter Road. Stephane Sessegnon produced an outstanding display but were unable to find an opening despite a host of chances. The Benin international created two early openings for Seb Larsson and further chances followed for Asamoah Gyan and Jack Colback as the Black Cats laid siege to the Hibs goal. The one-way traffic continued into the second period with further chances for the visitors from Craig Gardner, Sessegnon and Gyan.
