Preston 0 Sunderland 3: Highlights as Cats reach Championship play-offs after Millwall lose on dramatic day

Sunderland beat Preston 3-0 at Deepdale to secure their place in the Championship play-offs.
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After a goalless first half, Amad put the visitors ahead with an excellent strike into the top corner.

Substitute Alex Pritchard then added a second before Jack Clarke completed the scoring with a low effort.

After Millwall failed to beat Blackburn, Sunderland moved into the top six and will now face Luton in the play-offs.

Here’s how the game played out:

RECAP: Preston 0 Sunderland 3 (Amad, 54) (Pritchard, 61) (Clarke, 65)

Key Events

  • Sunderland XI: Patterson, Gooch (Anderson, 66), Hume, O’Nien, Cirkin (Pritchard, 45), Neil, Ekwah, Roberts, Amad (Ba, 87), Clarke, Gelhardt (Michut, 72)
  • Subs: Bass, Anderson, Michut, Ba, Pritchard, Lihadji, Taylor
  • Preston XI: Woodman, Storey, Lindsay, Kamara, Potts, McCann, Ledson, Fernandez, Parrott (Onomah, 56), Delap (Woodburn, 70), Cannon
  • Subs: Cornell, Bauer, Slater, Leigh, Woodburn, Onomah, Mawene

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Sunderland’s Championship fixture at Preston.

The Black Cats still have a realistic chance of finishing in the play-offs on the final day of the regular season, but must win at Deepdale to stand a chance.

We’ll have live updates, analysis and reaction on what could be a tense afternoon in the second tier.

We’ll start with the Sunderland team news.

Head coach Tony Mowbray is expected to have the same players available following his side’s 2-2 draw against Watford last time out.

Dan Ballard remains sidelined with a hamstring issue but could return if Sunderland reach the play-offs.

Ross Stewart, Corry Evans, Elliot Embleton, Aji Alese, Jewison Bennette and Danny Batth all remain sidelined and are targeting a return for the 2023/24 campaign.

How Preston are shaping up

Preston are also dealing with several injuries, with captain Alan Browne , Greg Cunningham, Ched Evans and Emil Riis set to miss the match, while Ben Whiteman (groin) and Robbie Brady (calf) are doubts.

North End can no longer finish in the top six following last weekend’s 4-1 defeat at Sheffield United, meaning Ryan Lowe’s side have taken just one point from their last four matches.

To find out more, we caught up with Tom Sandells from our sister title the Lancashire Post on the latest episode of The Roar Podcast:

Here’s what he said when asked about the side’s key players:

“Tom Cannon (on loan from Everton) has done really well.

“It took him a while to get the first goal but it didn’t take him a while to play well. You could see there’s a player in there.

“He is a real goal scorer, he’s got pace, he’s calm in front of goal and is exactly what Preston needed.

“Fernandez on loan from Man United at left-back is a good threat as well.

”In midfield Josh Onomah and Daniel Johnson, if they are on song, North End can tick along quite well.”

Mowbray on today’s fixture

Here’s what Mowbray had to say when asked how he’ll approach today’s fixture:

“We will be really positive from the off. I don’t think we need to be cagey.

“I think knowing you have to win, we will keep going until the end however long that end is.

“I think the goal difference side of it for us is pretty positive in just about all aspects.

“If Coventry get beat 1-0 and we win 1-0, the goals scored would take us above Coventry even though the goal difference would be the same

“Everyone is aware of that stuff but I think our goal difference is pretty positive. We just have to win the game.”

Lowe on Sunderland test

And here’s what Preston boss Ryan Lowe has had to say about today’s fixture:

“It’s a massive game. It’s not just one where we think we can have our flip flops on and think we’re on the beach. No chance.

“It’s the last game of the season, we want to send the fans home happy with something to say ‘ok, can we go a little bit better next season.’

“I want the players to go out with a bang but ultimately we know there’s a good team in Sunderland standing in our way, and we’ve got to make sure we’re on it because they’re trying to get into the play-offs.

“What we can’t do is we can’t turn up at 60, 70% because you’ll get beat. What we have to do is turn up 100% and knowing there is a game on our hands and hopefully we can put Saturday’s game and result behind us with a positive result.”

Here are our predicted line-ups for today’s match:

Predicted Preston XI: Woodman, Storey, Bauer, Hughes, Potts, McCann, Johnson, Fernandez, Onomah; Delap, Cannon

Predicted Sunderland XI: Patterson, Gooch, Hume, O’Nien, Cirkin, Neil, Ekwah, Roberts, Amad, Clarke, Gelhardt

Here’s what the play-off race looks like heading into today’s matches.

For Sunderland to finish in the top six they have to win at Deepdale. They must then hope either Millwall don’t beat Blackburn, or Coventry lose at Middlesbrough.

TODAY’S FIXTURES

Middlesbrough vs Coventry

Millwall vs Blackburn

Preston vs Sunderland

Swansea vs West Brom

We’ve arrived at Deepdale