Sunderland players celebrate scoring against Gillingham.Sunderland players celebrate scoring against Gillingham.
Sunderland players celebrate scoring against Gillingham.

The Sunderland starting XI Lee Johnson could name at Crewe - with Elliot Embleton ruled out after Gillingham red card

Sunderland will be hoping to make it back-to-back wins when they travel to Crewe on Tuesday – with Black Cats boss Lee Johnson looking to find some tactical solutions for the match.

Johnson will be without several first-team players at The Mornflake Stadium due to injury setbacks which have mounted up in recent weeks.

Aiden McGeady, Lynden Gooch, Leon Dajaku, Corry Evans, Niall Huggins, Nathan Broadhead and Frederik Alves all missed the Black Cats’ 2-1 win at Gillingham, while Elliot Embleton was sent off and will now serve a three-match suspension.

That means Embleton will miss Sunderland’s league games against Crewe and Charlton, as well as next week’s Carabao Cup fixture at QPR.

The aforementioned injuries may provide more opportunities for some of the club’s under-23s players who have impressed in the Papa John’s Trophy this season.

Here’s the SAFC side we think Johnson could name for the upcoming match against Crewe.

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