Tony Mowbray made four changes to his starting line-up at Cardiff City, following Sunderland's draw against Hull City on Friday. Luke O'Nien did not make the trip to South Wales, with Dennis Cirkin coming into the side in his place.
In midfield, Abdoullah Ba and Pierre Ekwah started with Edouard Michut and Patrick Roberts dropping to the the bench. And Alex Pritchard also came into the starting XI, with on-loan Leeds United frontman Joe Gelhardt dropping to the bench.
Sunderland started with a back three, with Trai Hume and Cirkin playing either side of Danny Batth. Cardiff boss Sabri Lamouchi made one change, in his case to the side that won at Blackpool on Friday.
READ MORE: Cardiff City vs Sunderland LIVE: Early team news and build-up from the Cardiff City Stadium
Sheyi Ojo came into the side in place of Joe Ralls. Former Sunderland striker Connor Wickham led the Bluebirds' attack, after signing a short-term deal with the club in January.
You can follow all the action with James Hunter on our live blog here.
Today's teams
Sunderland: Patterson, Hume, Batth, Cirkin, Gooch, Neil, Ekwah, Clarke, Ba, Amad, Pritchard
Subs: Bass, Michut, Lihadji, Gelhardt, Roberts, Anderson, Taylor
Cardiff City: Allsop, Ng, Kipre, McGuinness, Romeo, Sawyers, Wintle, Ojo, Philogene, Wickham, Kaba
Subs: Alnwick, Simpson, Rinomhota, Ralls, Harris, Davies, Etete
READ NEXT:
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- Tony Mowbray puts Pierre Ekwah's costly late error against Hull City down to 'naivety'
- Tony Mowbray praises 'great' Jack Clarke, after the youngster responds to half-time rocket
- Dan Ballard set to miss the remainder of Sunderland's season in 'huge blow', confirms Tony Mowbray
