Morecambe 0 Sunderland 1: Story of the day as Cats set up League One play-off against Sheffield Wednesday after Nathan Broadhead winner
and live on Freeview channel 276
Nathan Broadhead scored the only goal of the game in the 10th minute after he was sent through on goal by Corry Evans.
Broadhead was then forced off with an injury before half-time and was replaced by Jack Clarke.
Sunderland will now face Sheffield Wednesday in the play-offs.
Here’s how it played out at the Mazuma Stadium:
RECAP: Morecambe 0 Sunderland 1 (Broadhead, 10)
Key Events
- Sunderland XI: Patterson, Wright, Batth, O’Nien, Gooch, Evans, Embleton, Roberts, Pritchard (Neil, 83), Broadhead (Clarke, 26), Stewart (Matete, 73)
- Subs: Hoffmann, Xhemajli, Hume, Matete, Neil, Clarke, McGeady
- Morecambe XI: Carson, Cooney, Bedeau, Bennett, Gibson, Fane (Diagouraga, 71), Phillips, Wildig, Connolly (Obika, 84), Stockton, Gnahoua (Ayunga, 67)
- Subs: Smith, O’Connor, Diagouraga, Obika, Ayunga, McLoughlin, McAlmont
What to make of that side
So it’s three changes from the Sunderland side which started against Rotherham on Tuesday.
Alex Pritchard, Ellot Embleton and Patrick Roberts have all returned to the side in place of Callum Doyle, Trai Hume and Jay Matete.
Doyle hasn’t even been named on the bench, yet Aiden McGeady has returned to the matchday squad for the first time since November.
It’s unclear if Sunderland will start with a back three or back four with one less centre-back in the squad.
Dennis Cirkin and Carl Winchester remain sidelined through injury.
As it stands
Here’s what the top of the League One table looks like ahead of today’s matches.
Sunderland will finish in the play-off places if they beat Morecambe, yet the Black Cats could drop out of the top six if they fail to win and both Wycombe and Plymouth better their result.
Final-day fixtures:
Burton vs Wycombe
Gillingham vs Rotherham
Morecambe vs Sunderland
Plymouth vs MK Dons
Sheffield Wednesday vs Portsmouth
Shrewsbury vs Wigan
Predicted line-ups
Here are our predicted line-ups for today’s match:
Predicted Sunderland XI: Patterson; Batth, Wright, Doyle; Gooch, Evans, O’Nien, Clarke; Embleton; Broadhead, Stewart
Predicted Morecambe XI: Carson; Leigh, Bedeau, Bennett, Gibson; Diagouraga, Fane, Phillips; Connolly, Stockton, Gnahoua
Adams on Sunderland clash
Here’s what Morecambe boss Derek Adams has had to say about today’s big match:
“We’re really confident at home. We’ve got a huge backing, it’s a sell-out crowd for the game on Saturday and we are all thoroughly looking forward to that.
“I think that’s important, your home form, we’d always like to have done better away from home but we understand the league that we are in.
“We understand that Sunderland are a huge football club and we understand they’re in the same division as us and that gives us that opportunity to try and get something from the game on Saturday.”
