Edouard Michut made his first start for Sunderland as Tony Mowbray made five changes at Wigan Athletic to the side that beat Blackburn Rovers on Boxing Day. French midfielder Michut came into midfield in place of Patrick Roberts, who dropped to the bench.
Abdoullah Ba also started, taking the place of Corry Evans who was not included in the matchday squad. Ellis Simms scored the Black Cats' injury-time winner against Blackburn and was restored to the starting XI, with Ross Stewart making way.
Stewart completed the full 90 minutes against Blackburn but was included among the subs at Wigan, with Mowbray presumably deciding not to risk starting him in two games in quick succession given that he has only just returned from a long lay-off through injury. Mowbray was also forced into making changes to his defence, with Lynden Gooch and Dennis Cirkin missing out through injuries they sustained against Blackburn, and they were replaced by Trai Hume and Bailey Wright.
