The story of the day as Sunderland's promotion hopes come to an end after Lincoln City battle
and live on Freeview channel 276
The Black Cats trail 2-0 from the first leg after goals from Tom Hopper and Brennan Johnson gave the Imps a considerable advantage on Wednesday evening.
But with 10,000 fans back in the Stadium of Light roaring the team on, Lee Johnson’s men will be confident of turning the tide and sealing a spot at Wembley next weekend.
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Hide AdA win by two clear goals will be enough to send the game to extra time, while a three-goal winning margin will see Sunderland progress.
Johnson has some key decisions to make as the side prepare for the game, but will be able to call upon Aiden McGeady after a contract situation with the winger was resolved this week.
We’ll have full team news, match updates, analysis and reaction from our team of writers across the afternoon.
FT: Sunderland AFC 2-1 Lincoln City (Stewart 13, Wyke 33; Hopper 56)
Key Events
- Sunderland welcome Lincoln City to the Stadium of Light in the second leg of the League One play-off semi-finals.
- The Black Cats are bidding to overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg.
- 10,000 fans will be in attendance today, as supporters return for the first time since March 2020.
- SAFC XI: Burge, Wright, O’Nien, Gooch, McFadzean; Scowen, Leadbitter, Maguire, McGeady; Stewart, Wyke
90 - The hosts are throwing everything forward
But the ball just won’t drop for them here.
Just under two minutes left...
Lee Johnson is speaking now....
Here’s what the Sunderland boss had to say...
Lee JohnsonIt’s devastating. There’s no other word for it. You can see we put everything into it. The fans were magnificent. The positive is that it is a sign to come and the tempo we can create for the 23 home games next season. I think we should have had a penalty when Ross Stewart went down.
Lee JohnsonYou could see the boys were hanging in, if you like. We had a lot of players playing out of position and there are probably 40-odd things that have happened to our defenders this year. On the day, we were okay at the back - but we ended up with Gooch at left back and Power at right back. We have to give the boys credit for the effort and we did have chances.
Lee JohnsonThey [the referees] have been absolutely horrendous this year.