Sunderland welcome Middlesbrough to the Stadium of Light on Saturday looking to bounce back quickly from their 3-2 defeat to Plymouth Argyle on Saturday.
Joe Edwards’ stoppage-time winner ended Sunderland’s winning start to the campaign but they are still exceptionally well placed after the opening five fixtures. Though currently sitting tenth, Middlesbrough have started solidly with eight points and are widely expected to challenge for the play-off positions as minimum. They drew 1-1 with Preston North End last weekend. Both managers have a number of big decisions to make for the game, with some injury and fitness issues across both camps. Here, we run you through all the early team news...
17. Alex Bangura - out
Will miss most if not all of the current campaign with an achilles injury. Photo: Clive Brunskill