Fresh from masterminding his first victory as interim Sunderland manager, Mike Dodds returns to the Stadium of Light on Monday, when Blackburn Rovers arrive for a Championship clash.
The Black Cats earned a Jobe Bellingham-inspired 2-0 win over Cardiff City on Good Friday, while their visitors were unable to prevent Ipswich Town surging to the top of the rankings.
Match preview
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After Michael Beale's ill-fated reign in the Sunderland hotseat was brought to a premature end, Dodds oversaw a disastrous start to his time in control of the reins, as the Black Cats took just one point from clashes with Norwich City, Leicester City, Southampton and Queens Park Rangers.
Sunderland also managed a paltry two strikes across those four fixtures, but they matched that tally in just 27 minutes during Good Friday's encounter with Cardiff, where their seven-match winless streak in the Championship came to a long-overdue end.
The younger Bellingham brother firstly won a penalty for Adil Aouchiche to hammer home in the 12th minute, and the roles were reversed not long after, as the latter delivered an inviting ball into the six-yard box for Bellingham to fire into the roof of the net from close range.
Thanks to their first Championship success since February 10, Sunderland have halted their plummet down the rankings and are safely entrenched in mid-table in 12th place, although making up the 13-point gap to the playoff places is surely too big an ask for the Black Cats with just seven games to go.
Instead, caretaker head coach Dodds is simply bidding to snap Sunderland's disheartening three-game winless run on home turf, during which they have failed to score in their last two Stadium of Light clashes with Leicester and QPR, but not since 1994 have the hosts drawn a blank in three straight Championship games on familiar territory.
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Coincidentally, Blackburn touch down at the Stadium of Light on Monday intending to bring an end to their own two-game scoreless sequence, as John Eustace's side firstly played out a goalless draw with Middlesbrough on March 16 before coming up short versus Premier League hopefuls Ipswich.
Goalkeeper Aynsley Pears was the hosts' villain at Ewood Park, allowing a tame Conor Chaplin strike to slip through his grasp in the ninth minute of the match, although his blushes were almost spared by an even worse Vaclav Hladky blunder in the second period.
However, the Tractor Boys' number one recovered magnificently to deny Sammie Szmodics after the Championship's top scorer had robbed him of possession close to his goal, and Blackburn boss Eustace was also left to lament a trio of disallowed efforts, two of which he thought should have stood.
Now winless in 10 consecutive matches across all competitions - including their last nine Championship affairs - the 19th-placed Rovers are firmly embroiled in the demotion dogfight, sitting just three points clear of Huddersfield Town in 22nd thanks in no small part to their abysmal away record.
Indeed, Blackburn have not earned a league victory on rival turf since the end of November - losing seven and drawing three of their subsequent 10 road battles - and their last two encounters with Sunderland have seen the Black Cats cross their path and prevail.
Team News
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Following a month-long absence with a thigh injury, Sunderland winger Patrick Roberts was back on the bench for the beating of Cardiff, although Jack Clarke (ankle) was not involved and remains a serious doubt for the visit of Blackburn.
ACL victim Corry Evans is building up his fitness in training again, though, while Aji Alese was also an unused substitute on Good Friday alongside Roberts and is now bidding to make just his third appearance of the Championship season.
However, Dennis Cirkin (hamstring), Niall Huggins (knee), Nazariy Rusyn (calf) and Jenson Seelt (knee) are still sidelined, and Dodds has conceded that the latter is facing at least six and potentially up to nine months on the treatment table.
Speaking of season-ending injuries, Blackburn and Iceland winger Arnor Sigurdsson will not be seen on the field for the remainder of 2023-24 either - the 24-year-old suffered a severe ankle injury during his nation's Euro 2024 playoff semi-final success over Israel.
John Buckley (knee), Harry Leonard (knock) and John Fleck (calf) are keeping Sigurdsson company in the medical bay, although the former might force his way back into contention for Monday's match.
Kyle McFadzean (hamstring) and Sam Gallagher (illness) - who would have started Friday's game otherwise - were late withdrawals from the squad to face Ipswich as well, although neither man is thought to be dealing with anything severe.
Sunderland possible starting lineup:
Patterson; Hume, O'Nien, Ballard, Styles; Ekwah, Neil; Rigg, Aouchiche, Ba; Bellingham
Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:
Pears; Brittain, Hyam, Wharton, Carter; Rankin-Costello, Tronstad; Hedges, Szmodics, Dolan; Gallagher
We say: Sunderland 2-1 Blackburn Rovers
Whether Friday's impressive beating of Cardiff is the catalyst for better attacking fortunes for Sunderland only time will tell, but Dodds's men arrive on Monday as the firm favourites to see off a Blackburn side whose away form has been lacklustre throughout 2024.
Eustace's men showed enough offensive endeavour against Ipswich to suggest that they can breach the Sunderland goal, but the Black Cats should bite back harder to put another dent in their visitors' survival bid.
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Ben Knapton
