Sunderland AFC news RECAP: Team news, Lincoln City make late signing ahead of play-off clash plus under-23s to face Crystal Palace

We’re signing off from this blog but will be back very soon with our matchday blog from the LNER Stadium for Sunderland’s play-off meeting with Lincoln.

You can find all the updates, analysis, reaction and more on the SAFC section of the Echo website.

See you soon.

It’s been confirmed that fans will be able to attend the under-23 Premier League 2, Division 2, play-off final between Crystal Palace and Sunderland - although it appears only home fans will be able to attend.

The match will be played at Selhurst Park on Monday, May 24 as Palace finished higher in the table.

Sunderland have been linked with Peterborough striker Jonson Clarke-Harris, the man who finished as League One’s top scorer with 31 goals.

According to the Daily Record, Sheffield United and Sunderland are reportedly tracking the hot shot, while Posh chairman Darragh MacAnthony has admitted the club could sell.

MacAnthony told Sky Sports: “Peterborough United can never pay players £25,000-30,000 a week, there will be seven or eight clubs already offering Jonson Clarke-Harris that kind of money.

“We’re not going to be selling a lot of our assets, but you always have one player that so many clubs are after, they’re going to tap them up which is normal, par for the course and it’s difficult to compete with that.

“He’s been fantastic, the best player in League One, the best goalscorer in England.”

Lincoln City have brought in Josef Bursik on an emergency loan after their senior goalkeeper Alex Palmer suffered a concussion in training.

Palmer has been ruled out of the first leg against Sunderland on Wednesday evening due to concussion protocols, and the EFL have granted Lincoln permission to bring in Bursik.

The Stoke City goalkeeper is an England U21 goalkeeper who has featured 15 times for the Championship club this season.

This is his second emergency loan of 2021, having played a key part in Peterborough United’s surge for automatic promotion after an injury to Christy Pym.

Read more HERE

Blackpool took a big step towards the League One play-off final after a 3-0 win at Oxford last night.

Oliver Turton’s opener and Ellis Simms’ double gave Neil Critchley’s side a commanding advantage after the first leg, while Sunderland loanee Elliot Embleton played 75 minutes.

Critchley said: “If you’d have said to me before the game that we would score three goals and keep a clean sheet, I would have bitten your hand off.

“But it’s only half-time and Oxford have enough quality in their squad to come back. They were the third highest scorers in the division and they are certainly capable of scoring goals at our place.”

Lincoln captain Liam Bridcutt hopes his side can take advantage of Sunderland’s inconsistency this season.

Bridcutt, 32, played for the Black Cats between 2014 and 2016, but missed Lincoln’s 4-0 defeat by Sunderland in December.

“They’re a very physical and experienced team,” said the midfielder ahead of the play-offs.

“They’ve been inconsistent over the whole season and hopefully we can take advantage of that.

“Nothing really changes for us. We go into every game with a game plan. We stick to it and that’s stood us in good stead this season.”

Sunderland’s 30-goal ace Charlie Wyke has been crowned the Supporters’ Player of the Year.

Wyke says he has ‘loved every minute’ of this season, with Sunderland in play-off action against Lincoln City on Wednesday evening, with Wyke starring under Lee Johnson after he replaced Phil Parkinson.

The striker has hit 30 goals in 52 appearances so far including two hat-tricks against AFC Wimbledon and Doncaster Rovers.

The 28-year-old also became the first Sunderland player since Kevin Phillips in 1999-2000 to score 30 goals in a single season.

Read more HERE

Sunderland boss Lee Johnson said on Monday that a couple of players will miss tonight’s game but didn’t want to say who.

The Black Cats boss has hinted that Tom Flanagan and Ross Stewart could both be in his matchday squad.

Stewart has been sidelined with a hamstring issue, while Flanagan hasn’t played since the Papa John’s Trophy final but recently returned for the under-23 side.

“We played against our U23s and Ross Stewart wasn’t involved in that but we are going to have a look at him over the next couple of days,” said Johnson.

“We think he’s OK, and certainly if he gets through the final test he would be ready to start, if we needed to.

“Tom has trained and it’s obviously something we’ve got to consider.

“He’s a top character, a top lad and he seems like he’s in good nick.”

It’s the start of a big few days for Sunderland AFC who are preparing for the first leg of their League One play-off semi-final against Lincoln City.

We’ll have all the build-up ahead of the game at the LNER Stadium.

Stick around and refresh the page for live updates throughout the day.