Sunderland 1 MK Dons 2: Story of the day as Connor Wickham scores winner after Ross Stewart and Mo Eisa goals

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

Sunderland predicted line-up: Patterson, Hume, Batth, Wright, Cirkin, Winchester, Matete, Neil, Clarke, Pritchard, Stewart

MK Dons predicted line-up: Cumming; O’Hora, Lewington, Darling; Kesler, McEachran, Coventry, Harvie; Corbeanu, Twine; Parrott

“It feels like a long time ago, right?” said Manning when asked about the 2-1 defeat earlier this campaign.

“We came in on the Thursday night, we didn’t do anything on the Friday so the first thing we actually did was take the game - the group have been on quite a journey since then.

“That’s going to be the big thing for me on Saturday. Let’s see how far we’ve come, even more so going away up there with the challenge again of stepping up against a big club, which is something that they’ve done numerous times this season.

“I can’t wait but more so in terms of seeing the guys play again - that’s the bit that excites me more than anything.

“The number of fans, the size of the club we’re going up against and our league positions all make it great but how the guys are doing, how they are performing, how hard they are working and the quality they are showing - that’s what excites me.”

To find out more about today’s opponents, we caught up with Toby Lock, sports editor for the MK Citizen, to get the inside track.

Here’s what he said about how The Dons will set up and their key players:

“They’ll play 3-4-3, or 3-2-2-2-1 - depending on how you want to read modern formations!

“Basically, a back three, wing-backs, two central midfielders and two in behind the striker.

“It’s a formation which allows them to go into a more attacking stance should they need to, or shut-up shop if they come under pressure with counter-attacking options in there.

“Scott Twine is the obvious candidate because he’s the top scorer, he’s a creative spark and can score from just about anywhere. He’ll chance his arm at it too.

“Defender Harry Darling (below) is also one to watch. He loves to roam out of defence when the opportunity arises, and is a real threat from set-pieces of late, having six goals to his name so far.”

Read more HERE

Here’s what Neil had to say about his first week as Sunderland boss and today’s opponents.

“MK Dons are a good side and have been working in the same manner since the start of the season.

“They are settled in their methods, whereas a lot of our methods may be relatively new to a lot of our players.

“That at the moment is something that doesn’t sit easy with me because the best feeling as a manager is going into each game understanding and knowing what you are going to get.

“Unfortunately at this moment in time we are not in that position because we haven’t worked with the players for long enough.

“What we do have is we have good players, and I’m hoping that all the information, and what we’ve replicated in training, we can take into the game.”

Let’s start with the Sunderland team news.

Goalkeeper Thorben Hoffmann could return to the squad after missing the last two matches through illness.

Neil said both Hoffmann and Lee Burge, who have been absent recently following COVID issues, are making encouraging progress in their recoveries.

Danny Batth is available again following an ankle issue, yet Lynden Gooch remains a doubt with a calf injury.

Neil also offered updates on Sunderland’s longer-term injuries in yesterday’s press conference but admitted Luke O’Nien,Aiden McGeady and Nathan Broadhead are still ‘weeks rather than days’ away from a return.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Alex Neil’s first home game as Sunderland boss.

The Black Cats face a tough test against promotion rivals MK Dons, who are two points ahead of them in the table.

We’ll have all the build-up ahead of today’s match, as well as in-game analysis and post-match reaction.

Stick around and refresh the page for live updates.