Swansea 2 Sunderland 1: Highlights after defeat at the Swansea.com Stadium despite Jack Clarke goal

Sunderland are back on the road this weekend as Tony Mowbray’s side travel to Swansea in the Championship.

The Black Cats will be looking to get back to winning ways after three consecutive draws, yet it won’t be easy against a Swans side who have won their last three matches.

We’ll have all the build-up ahead of the match, as well as in-game analysis and post-match reaction.

Stick around and refresh the page for live updates.

As always, we’ll start with the Sunderland team news.

Strikers Ross Stewart (thigh) and Ellis Simms (toe) remain sidelined as Black Cats boss Tony Mowbray looks to find tactical solutions in their absence.

Manchester United loanee Amad played up front against Blackpool on Tuesday, with Mowbray urging the 20-year-old to be more ruthless in the box.

Midfielder Dan Neil could return to the side after starting on the bench against Blackpool last time out, while defender Dennis Cirkin is expected to return to the squad following a hamstring issue.

Here’s what Mowbray had to say about Swansea in Thursday’s press conference, following the Swans’ last-minute winner against Watford:

“Their record recently is very good, I think it’s four of the last five that they’ve won.

“It shows that in this division things can change very quickly and that three points at any time is massive for any team in this division.

“I’m looking forward to a really good game of football on Saturday, I have to say. I think they’re a really good team, a really good possession-based team who want to dominate the ball. It’s a really good test for us, to see if we can deal with their shape and their possession, and whether they can deal with us as well.

“To score the goals we did against Watford and Reading suggests that maybe there is a bit more space for us to play away from home, so let’s hope that is the scenario.

“Swansea move the ball through the lines really well, at times they push the wing backs really high and so if we catch them at the right moment, as it is for every time, they can be vulnerable.

“We’ll go there with a game plan and we’ll see how we get on.”

To find out more about Swansea, we caught up with Swans journalist Guto Llewelyn, columnist for Wales Online, on the latest episode of The Roar Podcast.

You can listen to the full episode here

Here’s what he said when asked about the side’s key players:

“Joel Piroe is probably our best player, he was just a real bargain. We brought him in for just over £1million and last season he scored more than 20 league goals.

“He’s a really intelligent striker, he’s not always involved in the game but whenever he does get on the ball he makes things happen. He’s just very graceful, good touches and gets into good positions.

“Michael Obafemi on his day is one of the most dangerous strikers in the Championship, it’s not all gone to plan with him this season but when he’s in the team he’s a threat.

“We’re seeing the midfield is key for us and we’re seeing Matt Grimes have some really good performances. He just keeps things ticking over.

“The defence has also shone through and we’ve seen more solidity at the back. Nathan Wood, who was brought in from Middlesbrough, seemed to be unwanted up there, he’s been a revelation and been our best defender.”

Here’s what Swansea boss Russell Martin had to say about Sunderland:

"We’ve watched quite a bit of them and we really like how they play.

"They have lots of energy, really good players and they’ve kept the same momentum that they had in League One.

“They’ve got some really excellent players and a really good togetherness. It’s not an easy game at all."

“We have spoken about needing everyone, some people put in a huge shift on Wednesday and Sunderland have had an extra day to prepare having played at home on Tuesday night.

“We will take it all into account and those conversations will continue because we want to put out a team that is capable of playing with the same energy and intensity.”

Here are our predicted line-ups for today’s match:

Predicted Sunderland XI: Patterson; Gooch, Batth, O’Nien, Alese; Evans, Neil; Roberts, Pritchard, Clarke; Amad

Predicted Swansea XI: Benda; Wood, Naughton, Cabango; Sorinola, Fulton, Grimes, Manning: Piroe, Ntcham: Obafemi

So it’s one change for Sunderland following Tuesday’s goalless draw against Blackpool.

Dan Neil comes back into the starting XI in place of Amad who drops to the bench.

Dennis Cirkin and Jay Matete return to the bench as Edouard Michut and Leon Dajaku are left out of the squad.

Swansea have made four changes following their 2-1 win at Watford on Wednesday, with Hary Darling, Joel Latibeaudiere, Ollie Cooper and Luke Cundle coming into the starting XI.

Sunderland have started wit Pritchard playing through the middle, with Roberts on the right and Clarke on the left.

Embleton is playing just ahead of Evans and Neil in midfield.

Sunderland are looking to press high up the pitch in the early exchanges as Swansea look to play out from the back.

The visitors won a free-kick there, and Batth connected with Embleton’s delivery, yet the effort was comfortable for Benda to save.

That was a let off for Sunderland.

Gooch’s pass in field was misplaced and went to Cundle on a central position.

The midfielder’s shot from the edge of the box was kept out by a low save from Patterson.