Mike Dodds’ Sunderland travel to Southampton this weekend as they look to bounce back following midweek defeat against Leicester City in the Sky Bet Championship.
The interim Head Coach spoke to the media ahead of the game...
Opposition
Southampton sit in fourth spot in the Sky Bet Championship table with 70 points from 35 games. The Saints have collected 21 wins, and seven draws while also suffering seven defeats so far this season.
Russell Martin’s side have recorded just two wins in their last six matches as they chase automatic promotion – the South Coast side are currently eight points adrift but do have a game in hand on their rivals.
Former Newcastle United striker Adam Armstrong has 28-goal contributions to his name - 11 assists and 17 goals and sits second in the Sky Bet Championship's top goalscoring charts.
The Saints are the division's third most prolific side in front of goal having fired 69 times, only the Championship’s top two Ipswich Town (73) and Leicester City (72) have fired more times.
Sunderland claimed an emphatic 5-0 victory last time the sides faced off – goals from Jack Clarke, a brace from Pierre Ekwah, Bradley Dack and a first senior goal for 16-year-old Chris Rigg sealing maximum points.
Ex-Black Cat Ross Stewart is now in the Saints ranks following his summer transfer. The striker scored 40 times in 80 matches during his time on Wearside.
Team News
Luke O’Nien will miss Sunderland’s next two fixtures having picked up his 10th yellow card of the campaign against Leicester City on Tuesday.
Bradley Dack has returned to full first-team training and is expected to feature for the Under-21s on Monday evening when they take on Manchester City.
Corry Evans will not be available after rolling his ankle during training, but Mike Dodds is confident the injury is nothing serious and is expected to take part in training again next week.
Long-term absentees Dennis Cirkin, Niall Huggins, Jack Clarke, Patrick Roberts, Elliot Embleton and Aji Alese continue to be ruled out.
Around the grounds
Friday
Sheffield Wednesday vs Leeds United (8pm)
Saturday
Cardiff City vs Ipswich Town (12:30pm)
Blackburn Rovers vs Plymouth Argyle (3pm)
Hull City vs Leicester City (3pm)
Millwall vs Birmingham City (3pm)
Norwich City vs Rotherham United (3pm)
Preston North End vs Stoke City (3pm)
Queens Park Rangers vs Middlesbrough (3pm)
Watford vs Coventry City (3pm)
Sunday
Huddersfield Town vs West Bromwich Albion (12pm)
Bristol City vs Swansea City (12.30pm)
Streaming
Streaming passes are available to anyone outside of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey and Russia. Streaming passes are available to purchase here.