Sunderland slipped to three points adrift of the Championship play-off spots after falling to a narrow home defeat against Hull City on Friday night.
Michael Beale's men were condemned to a second consecutive defeat by a late deflected effort from on-loan Liverpool star Fabio Carvalho as the Black Cats were punished for a lacklustre display at the Stadium of Light.
The impact of the defeat was heightened by wins for fellow promotion contenders Norwich City, Coventry City and Leeds United over the weekend as a whole host of former Premier League clubs remain in contention to secure a return to the top tier throughout the second half of what has already been an action-packed season.
With all eyes on how Beale and his players react ahead of their home game against Stoke City on Saturday week, we utilise a stats-based table put together by Football Web Pages to see where the Black Cats are currently predicted to finish when the season comes to a close in May.
