Sunderland AFC news: Tony Mowbray's Middlesbrough verdict plus team news including Alex Pritchard latest

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Tony Mowbray’s pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s match against Middlesbrough at the Stadium of Light.

The Black Cats have won five of their last six matches following Wednesday’s 2-0 victory over Watford, while Boro have won their last three league games.

We’ll have live updates from the Academy of Light as Mowbray speaks to the media.

We’ll start with the Sunderland team news.

Alex Pritchard missed Wednesday’s win over Watford with a calf strain and isn’t expected to feature against Middlesbrough tomorrow.

Pierre Ekwah (dead leg) and Bradley Dack (hamstring) are not expected to return until after next week’s international, while Dennis Cirkin (hamstring) also remains sidelined.

Aji Alese (thigh) and Eliezer Mayenda (hamstring) have been stepping up their recoveries at the Academy of Light but will have to be eased back.

Timothee Pembele, Jay Matete and Corry Evans also remain out.

We’ll get a further update from Mowbray later today.

Boro also have injury and fitness issues ahead of the match, with Carrick confirming Nottingham Forest loanee Lewis O’Brien is set to be sidelined for between two and three months after suffering leg and ankle injuries.

Defender Rav van den Berg could return to the squad after missing Tuesday’s 2-0 win over Cardiff, a match where captain Jonny Howson was also absent due to an illness.

“I have been here a year or so now and we’ve played them twice. It’s a big game for me, I live on Teesside of course and everybody wants to talk football.

“They obviously had a tough start but have turned it around, won their last four games. From what I’m watching they are a very well coached team, have good rotations, good identity, we know how they play.

“We have to try and be aware of their strengths and weaknesses and see how the game goes but they have some good players.

“They seem to have taken a bit of time to gel with the new players but they play the same system and I think he’s just been trying to acclimatise his new players, because he lost a lot of quality in the summer, some loans went back to their parent clubs. Akpom was obviously sold to Holland.

“He’s probably just been getting the players into the system and it looks by the results that it’s starting to come together for them.”

“I obviously played in lots of them. I think if you ask Sunderland supporters there is only one big derby for them.

“Middlesbrough would consider both Sunderland and Newcastle as big derby games, maybe even Leeds is a huge game, similar sort of distances and yet not like a Tyne-Wear derby.

“We should just look forward to it, there are three points at stake and I don’t want to build it up to anything other than two decent teams in good form trying to win a football match really.

“We are in decent form and they are in good form having won their last four. Let’s bring it on.”

“I don’t think Pritch is worth us risking.

“The pleasing thing for me is that Aji has been back on the training ground every day now for the last three or four days. Eliezer Mayenda is on the training ground and looking really strong and powerful. They are obviously not ready and need to play a 21s game over the next week or two”

“I think we have some pretty key players injured at the moment, yet the lads who have come in have kept the momentum going.

“We have been pretty consistent with our performances, even the game we lost against Cardiff I thought the performance level was pretty consistent.

“We believe we will go into this game and give a good account of ourselves. That doesn’t mean we are going to win of course.

“Middlesbrough went to Watford and won 3-2 in their last away game so they will be pretty confident as well.”

“They are always important. It’s an amazing place to come and play.

I talk to the players about that, who do you play for? Do you play for yourself? Do you play for your family? Do you play for supporters?

“The supporters make it an emotional occasion, every football match home and away and it’s important we find the performances to make sure if they have travelled a long way and spent a lot of money that they see a team that is fighting and working hard and trying to win a football match.”

“I feel like you can’t be anything other than impressed really.

“People started asking questions, seven games without a win at the start of the season, on the back of losing a lot of high-quality footballers last year.

“It is part of the reason you have to be careful with loans I think because loans ultimately go back and whether your recruitment is right you have to replace the quality of a Premier League player with more quality.

“I think they have found that challenging, as I have as a coach in my career. These really talented Premier League players that you’ve got, even though they are very young, leave your club and “you have to be able to replace them.

“It appears they have been bedding in a few players they’ve signed if you are looking just at results.”