Sunderland 1 Accrington Stanley 1: Story of the day as Mitchell Clark goal earns hosts a point after Aiden O'Brien opener and Ross Sykes red card

Here’s how we think both sides could start today.

Predicted Sunderland XI: Patterson, Hume, Flanagan, Doyle, Cirkin, Evans, Neil, Embleton, Gooch, Pritchard, Stewart

Predicted Accrington Stanley XI: Savin, Sykes, Nottingham, Amankwah, Clark, Pell, Butcher, Leigh, Hamilton, McConville, Bishop

Here’s what Accrington boss John Coleman had to say about today’s match.

“We played really well at their place, we had 23 shots and attacked them really well, the game could have gone either way.

“Six weeks ago we were leaking goals like a sieve and you couldn’t put your finger on it as we defended quite well in those games but we getting punished for every mistake we made.

“We have had an upturn in form, not so much an upturn in performance, and had a little bit of luck along the way.

“We would like to be more offensive in our play. Joe Pritchard being out has been a really big loss for us because he is one of the best players in the league at running at people. That’s something we haven’t got enough of at the moment in our squad so we might try and rectify that during the transfer window.

“Hopefully Rosaire will give us one of the answers to that. We are always looking to be more offensive, more attacking, score more goals and keep them out the other end.

“Our defence is not now watertight, we are always working on that, and we know the threat Sunderland will pose.”

Sunderland beat Accrington 2-1 when the sides met in September, with Dan Neil and Carl Winchester scoring the goals.

John Coleman’s side sit 11th in the table ahead of the match and haven’t lost for four league games.

To find out more about Accrington, we caught up with PA announcer Joshua Adcroft to get the inside track.

Here’s what he said about how the side will set up:“We are usually very direct in getting the ball up to Colby Bishop and picking up second balls around the 18 yard box.

“We are usually very forward minded at home so will look to create chances from the off and take the game to Sunderland.

“Formation wise could be anyone’s guess, we’ve been hampered by injuries and Covid so have had to utilise 3-5-2, 4-4-2, 3-4-2-1 and 5-4-1 formations in recent weeks.”

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Here’s what Sunderland boss Lee Johnson had to say about today’s match.

“We have to execute our game and gameplan extremely well, which is something we didn’t do well enough against Lincoln and we take collective responsibility,”

“At the same time, we performed in a very similar game against Wycombe extremely well and managed to implement our philosophy. Every game is a new challenge and is very different, and Accrington do a tremendous job with their resources.

“It’s a tricky place to go – the fans at Accrington always create a good atmosphere. The pitch is good, and it’ll be a really good game.

“Both teams I expect in certain areas of the game to affect the other with their philosophy – and that disruptive nature, whether it be us in possession or Accrington’s physicality, will lead to a really interesting game to watch.”

We’ll start with the Sunderland team news.

Lee Johnson expects some players to return after missing the last two games due to positive Covid-19 results.

Alex Pritchard is a doubt for the match with Johnson saying the attacking midfielder has a ‘50/50’ chance of playing.

Corry Evans (below) could return after suffering a concussion at Wycombe last weekend and subsequently missing the Lincoln match.

There appears to have been no long-term damage as a result of the collision with Anthony Patterson at Adams Park.

Carl Winchester will serve a one-match suspension following his red card against Lincoln.

Sunderland are back in action this afternoon with Lee Johnson’s side set to face Accrington Stanley at the Wham Stadium.

The Black Cats will be hoping to bounce back following Tuesday’s 3-1 defeat by Lincoln, when they missed the chance to go top of 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.