Sunderland's Premier League schedule for January confirmed as Sky Sports announce latest picks
Sunderland’s Premier League schedule in January has now been confirmed
Two more of Sunderland’s January fixtures have been moved for TV coverage, it has been confirmed this afternoon.
The Premier League have announced the latest fixture amendments for the latter stages of the month, and the Black Cats have been impacted again. Their trip to West Ham United will remain on Saturday, January 24th but has been brought forward to kick off at 12.30pm. The game will be broadcast live on TNT Sports.
Burnley’s visit to the Stadium of Light at the end of the month has now been moved into early February. The game will now take place on Monday, February 2nd and will kick off at 8pm. That game will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.
It means that all but one of Sunderland’s Premier League fixtures in January will be televised, starting with Manchester City’s visit to the Stadium of Light on New Year’s Day. An 8pm kick off, that game will be broadcast live on Sky Sports. Sunderland’s trips to face Spurs on Sunday January 4th (3pm KO) and then to face Brentford on Wednesday January 7th (7.30pm KO) will also be televised on Sky Sports.
The as of yet not drawn FA Cup third round follows the next weekend, before the Black Cats welcome Crystal Palace to the Stadium of Light on Saturday, January 17th. That game remains a 3pm kick off.
The full list of new Premier League fixture amendments can be viewed here.
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Sunderland injury latest
Romaine Mundle and Leo Hjelde will make their Sunderland comebacks at the Stadium of Light on Thursday evening.
Mundle and Hjelde will both play 45 minutes as the U21s face Sporting Lisbon in the Premier League International Cup at 7pm. It will be the first competitive football either has played since the win over Sheffield United in the play-off final at Wembley. Hjelde underwent surgery on both achilles in the aftermath of that game, having played through the pain barrier through the play-offs.
Mundle, meanwhile, suffered a recurrence of a hamstring injury in pre-season that also required surgery. Dennis Cirkin, who has two U21 appearances under his belt in recent weeks, will step up his own comeback by playing 90 minutes against the Portuguese side.
None of the trio will be in contention to face Fulham on Saturday.
“90 minutes for Dennis tonight and 45 for Leo and Romaine, so that’s good news for them,” Régis Le Bris said.
“Fulham is too soon for all of them.”
Le Bris also confirmed that Reinildo is available for Saturday’s game despite not going on international duty with Mozambique: “He felt discomfort in a hamstring but it isn't serious. He had a previous injury a few years ago so it's more related to that than a new one. He will be fine [for Saturday].”
Omar Alderete will return to the squad after recovering from a concussion.