EFL make official decision ahead of Sunderland vs Norwich City

The EFL have confirmed that Leigh Doughty will be the referee for Sunderland’s clash against Norwich City at the Stadium of Light on Saturday. The Black Cats take on the Canaries in their upcoming Championship clash this weekend with a 3.00pm kick-off time.

Paul Hodskinson and Graham Kane have been appointed as the assistant referees. Meanwhile, Elliot Bell is the fourth official as Regis Le Bris’ side look to keep their momentum going with another win in their final outing before Christmas.

Sunderland won 3-2 away at Swansea City in their last game and fought back from 2-0 down to beat the Swans. Dan Ballard, Dan Neil and Jobe Bellingham were on the scoresheet in Wales.

The Black Cats are unbeaten in their past three matches and have lost only once in their previous 14 fixtures. They are sat in 4th in the table and are inside the play-offs along with Burnley, Blackburn Rovers and Middlesbrough as they eye promotion to the Premier League.

Speaking ahead of the visit of Norwich, Le Bris has said: "There are a lot of games in a short space of time. There is a good energy within the group and we will need to keep that togetherness over this next few weeks. We must keep the consistency and build momentum after Saturday's important win.

"I saw a real resilience from my side during that game (against Swansea). In the second half especially, there was a confidence I want to see continue into our game against Norwich."

The Frenchman added: "They (Norwich) are an impressive team. They build their play with such high intensity. We know it will be an interesting challenge but one we are ready for. We have prepared correctly and we are looking forward to playing in front of our supporters once again.

"We are all on this journey together. It is a group project. You can feel the energy throughout the training ground, the stadium and most importantly, with the supporters."

Norwich made the top six in the last campaign but were beaten by Leeds United over two legs at the semi-finals stage. They then sacked David Wagner and replaced him with Johannes Hoff Thorup.

The Canaries are positioned in 12th and were beaten 2-1 at home by Burnley last Sunday. Their head coach Hoff Thorup has said: “I think when you are in a league and you compete against clubs where they have a bigger budget, they have a bigger reach maybe in terms of the players they can bring in, then you have to find something else you compete on. That's what we try to do here, that's why we try to be as clear as possible in our decisions and our choices and our strategy and the way that we play, so we can compete with that.

“I think Sunderland is a good example. I think they play really, really well, and [that is] also something we need to be really prepared for, because in my opinion it's the best transition team in the league. I think if you look at the movements up front, if you look at the chances they create from counter-attacks and being very direct in their approach, I think they're really, really good in that area of the game.”