Alex Pritchard came into Sunderland's starting XI against Stoke City as Tony Mowbray made one change to the side that began last weekend's defeat at Coventry City. Pritchard replaced Edouard Michut, with the French midfielder - who turned 20 today - dropping to the bench.
That was the only change to the Black Cats line-up, with Mowbray otherwise sticking with the players who had lost 1-0 at the CBS Arena. Former Sunderland boss Alex Neil was making his first return to Wearside since leaving to take over at Stoke in August.
He made multiple changes for his side's midweek FA Cup fifth round defeat against Premier League Brighton, but against Sunderland he reverted largely to the side that lost 1-0 at home to Millwall last weekend. There were still two changes to the side that had faced the Lions, however, with Ki-Jana Hoever and Tyrese Campbell coming into the side in place of Bersant Celina and Morgan Fox.
