EFL rule which benefits Sunderland ahead of QPR, Cardiff, Leeds and West Brom fixtures

Sunderland players will no longer receive a two-match suspension for receiving their 10th yellow card of the season as Black Cats have played their 37th league game.

Luke O'Nien will still miss Saturday's home match against QPR after picking his 10th booking of the campaign against Leicester last week, which also caused him to miss Saturday’s fixture at Southampton. Dan Ballard has also served a two-match suspension for being shown 10 yellow cards this season, missing games against Swansea and Norwich as a result.

Trai Hume was another player walking the disciplinary tightrope on nine bookings, while Abdoullah Ba is on eight. Yet Hume is no longer at immediate risk of picking up a two-match ban, after reaching the 37-game cut-off point. 

Players who receive 15 yellow cards are penalised, though, with EFL rules stating anyone who receives 15 yellow cards up to and including the final game of the regular season will serve a three-match suspension prior to play-offs fixtures. Ballard is the closest to that figure with 11 bookings this term, with nine league games of the campaign remaining. 

The Black Cats will host QPR this weekend, before games against Cardiff, Blackburn and Bristol City after the international break. Sunderland will also face Leeds, West Brom, Millwall and Watford, before their final match of the regular season against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, May 4 at the Stadium of Light.