Sunderland face their second trip to Walsall in seven days this weekend as they turn their attentions to their Emirates FA Cup venture.
Bidding to reach round three of the competition, the Black Cats progressed through their opening round tie against Port Vale last month with relative ease.
Goals from George Honeyman and Lynden Gooch saw Jack Ross’ side race into an early 2-0 lead at Vale Park before the hosts pulled one back before the break.
Chances fell for both sides after the restart, but in the end, Sunderland showed their class to secure their path into the second round.
That then set-up an away tie at Walsall, which comes just seven days after the Lads’ last visit there which ended 2-2.
While Sunderland were forced to settle for their second draw on the trot, it came with its positives as Ross’ side, which had been reduced to 10 after Max Power’s red card, roared back from 2-0 down to level in the last minute.
That provided the Lads with a platform to then defeat promotion rivals Barnsley at the Stadium of Light in midweek, which saw Aiden McGeady, Josh Maja and Lynden Gooch all strike before the half-hour mark.
Barnsley fought back to within a goal, though, before Luke O’Nien provided the gloss late on to stretch the unbeaten run to 14 matches in all competitions.
As for this weekend’s team news, Ross will remain without full-back Denver Hume who is set to miss up to eight weeks after suffering a reoccurrence of a knee injury.
Dylan McGeouch and Lee Cattermole are also expected to miss the trip to Walsall, with Ethan Robson also out of action.
For Walsall, meanwhile, they will once again be without skipper Adam Chambers who remains sidelined with a broken foot while Kory Roberts and Joe Edwards are also out.
DON’T MISS THE ACTION
Streaming passes will NOT be available this weekend, however, supporters will be able to keep up with the action by checking out our audio commentary.
Nick Barnes and Gary Bennett will be in the commentary booth from 2pm.
Aside from that, we have comprehensive coverage of all the action as it happens across our digital channels.
