Sunderland 5 Sheffield Wednesday 0: Story of the night as Cats go top of League One after Ross Stewart hat-trick plus Callum Doyle and Benji Kimpioka goals

A look on social media suggests that quite a few Wednesday fans have taken a decision to turn around and head home due to the delays on the A1 (M).

It should have been a sell-out crowd at the Stadium of Light tonight as Wednesday had sold their full allocation.

Due to Wednesday’s Covid-19 issues, it’s hard to predict who will start for the visitors.

Here’s the Sunderland side we think could start this evening.

Predicted Sunderland XI: Hoffmann, Wright, Flanagan, Doyle, Gooch, Evans, Neil, Dajaku, Embleton, Pritchard, Stewart.

Here’s what Wednesday boss Darren Moore had to say about his side’s postponed matches.

“We are all frustrated and so disappointed to have two games postponed and I know you will be feeling exactly the same way.

“This time of year is deeply embedded into the football calendar, yes it’s normally a hectic schedule but with a lot of points to play for and we went into the festive period in the ascendancy.

“We had back-to-back games to look forward to at Hillsborough, it was all nicely set up for the team and you, the fans.

“Boxing Day is always a special occasion for football, particularly at a stadium like Hillsborough where we would have had a bumper crowd with everyone together in our home.

“But it was not to be, as we can see around the country, football cannot escape the situation we are in and everyone’s health is paramount so we have to deal with it and prepare for the next time we play, which right now is Sunderland for a game that wouldn’t be out of place in the Premier League and that says a lot.”

Here’s what the Sunderland boss had to say about tonight’s match: “I’m really pleased the game is on, especially for the fans,” he said.

“It’s a really good time to have a big game like this, there’s a lot of love back in the room after some good performances, and we’ll need that.

“Every supporter will earn this win if we can get it, because we’re going to need that energy and extra push in that last 20 minutes in particular.”

Wednesday haven’t played since December 11 due to a Covid-19 outbreak in their squad.

To find out more, we caught up with Alex Miller from our sister title the Sheffield Star to get the inside track.

He said: “Wednesday have had their last two matches called off after an outbreak within the club left them short of players - at the situation’s worst we understand there were only seven senior outfield players able to train.

“But from what we gather things have improved and most if not all players affected by the virus are back in training. Barring anything drastic, the club are certainly hopeful of being able to fulfil the fixture their end.”

Read more HERE

As always, we’ll start with the Sunderland team news.

Carl Winchester could return after missing the win at Doncaster with a calf/achilles problem.

Aiden O’Brien and Ellis Taylor will be unavailable after testing positive for Covid-19, yet the playing group hasn’t returned any more positive tests on Wednesday.

Luke O’Nien, Aiden McGeady, Niall Huggins, Nathan Broadhead and Jordan Willis remain sidelined.