The 69 photos of passionate Sunderland fans as 39,017 watch Black Cats defeat Derby County in Championship

Alan Browne returned to the Sunderland squad with Régis Le Bris naming an unchanged XI to face Derby County at the Stadium of Light.

Browne had missed the last two games with a minor knee problem but returned to add some welcome depth to Le Bris’s options from the bench. As expected, Dan Ballard and Eliezer Mayenda were absent with injuries and are at this stage major doubts for Leeds United’s visit to the Stadium of Light on Friday night.

Browne returned to the bench in place of Harrison Jones, who was with the U21s side facing Lyon at Eppleton. Jewison Bennette was also named in that team, with Tommy Watson on the first-team bench after getting his first league minutes of the campaign at Watford.

Jobe Bellingham put Sunderland ahead in the first-half with a thunderous long-range effort that flew past Derby keeper Jacob Widell Zetterstrom. Wilson Isidor then doubled the Black Cats’ lead in the second half after good work down the left for Romaine Mundle.

The win meant that Sunderland top the Championship heading into Friday’s game against Leeds United at the Stadium of Light after West Brom’s loss to Middlesbrough.

Here, though, we take a look at the best photos of Sunderland fans at the Stadium of Light against Derby County: