Sunderland will welcome Hull City to the Stadium of Light on Saturday for an important contest at both ends of the Championship table.
The hosts fell eight points behind the automatic promotion spots following a defeat on Monday, while their visitors sit a single point above the relegation zone.
Match preview
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Sunderland head into the weekend aiming to bounce back to winning ways and boost their faint hopes of winning automatic promotion from the Championship this season.
The Black Cats have sat fourth since late November, and back-to-back victories at the beginning of January saw them move into a strong position on 50 points from 26 outings.
Regis Le Bris's side have since failed to gain further ground, though, despite building an eight-match unbeaten streak following those wins with additional triumphs over Derby County, Middlesbrough and Luton Town, having also been held to draws by Burnley, Plymouth Argyle and Watford.
A tough trip to league leaders Leeds United then followed on Monday, and the Wearside outfit led 1-0 through Wilson Isidor until the final 15 minutes, only to leave empty-handed in agonising fashion as Pascal Struijk levelled the game and headed in a winner for the hosts in the 95th minute.
Now trailing Leeds by 10 points, second-placed Sheffield United by eight and third-placed Burnley by three with 13 games remaining, Sunderland know that any hopes of crashing the top two are reliant on putting a winning run together, beginning at the Stadium of Light on Saturday in a bid to continue their unbeaten home record this season.
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Their visitors will also go in search of three crucial points in Wearside in their own fight at the bottom end of the division.
Hull City head into the weekend in a concerning position in the fight for Championship survival, having failed to move clear of the drop zone in recent weeks, albeit having jumped back out of the bottom three last weekend.
Ruben Selles's side gave their survival hopes a major boost in January with away victories over Millwall and second-placed Sheffield United, either side of a home defeat to Queens Park Rangers, to move onto 29 points from 29 league outings, with 14 of those points coming from Selles's first 10 league games at the helm.
The Tigers have failed to build on that improvement since, though, adding just one more point to that tally in the last three attempts having gone on to suffer consecutive defeats to Stoke City and Burnley, before most recently hosting Norwich City on Saturday and sharing the spoils as Matt Crooks's opener was cancelled out by a Joshua Sargent leveller.
While that result did see Hull City leap above Derby County and out of the bottom three, they do only lead the Rams and Plymouth Argyle by one point and basement side Luton Town by two, and they will be desperate to extend that cushion at the weekend in a tough away trip.
Team News
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Regis Le Bris will likely field an unchanged Sunderland starting XI from Monday's trip to Leeds United, with Aji Alese, Tom Watson, Jayden Danns and Niall Huggins remaining sidelined.
Wilson Isidor will continue to lead the line, with his tally of 12 Championship goals so far this term only topped by two players in the division, while Patrick Roberts, Chris Rigg and Roma loanee Enzo Le Fee should again line up in support.
Elsewhere, key men Jobe Bellingham and Dan Neil will partner up in the engine room of their 4-2-3-1 setup, while Luke O'Nien and Dan Ballard will hope to continue their defensive partnership with Chris Mepham having spent the last two games on the bench.
Hull City will remain without wingers Mohamed Belloumi and Liam Millar due to injuries, while Kasey Palmer and Charlie Hughes are nearing returns but will not be deemed fit to start at the Stadium of Light.
Abu Kamara, Mason Burstow and Kyle Joseph will all compete to come into the attack from the outset, after January arrivals Joe Gelhardt, Matt Crooks and Louie Barry supported Joao Pedro last weekend, with Crooks netting the second goal of his loan spell in the draw against Norwich.
Gustavo Puerta will also hope to return but may again have to settle for a substitute appearance with Steven Alzate and Regan Slater preferred in midfield, while John Egan will make a third straight start in defence following his move from Burnley late in the January transfer window.
Sunderland possible starting lineup:
Patterson; Hume, Ballard, O'Nien, Cirkin; Bellingham, Neil; Roberts, Rigg, Le Fee; Isidor
Hull City possible starting lineup:
Pandur; Coyle, Egan, Jones, McLoughlin; Slater, Alzate; Kamara, Crooks, Barry; Joseph
We say: Sunderland 2-0 Hull City
Despite the wound from their late defeat in Monday's crucial contest, we back Sunderland to get back to winning ways against a Hull City side who are failing to build momentum in their survival bid, particularly given the Black Cats' formidable home record.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
