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.
READ MORE: Wigan Athletic vs Sunderland LIVE: All the latest news and updates from the DW Stadium
Alex Pritchard was named on the bench.
Wigan boss Kolo Toure made three changes to the side that started the Latics' 4-1 Boxing Day thrashing at Middlesbrough. Tendayi Darikwa and Tom Naylor came into the side with Ryan Nyambe and Jordan Cousins dropping to the bench.
The third change saw one-time Sunderland loanee Ashley Fletcher start in place of another ex-Black Cats loanee in Nathan Broadhead, who was included on the bench. Fletcher was one of three former Sunderland men included in the Wigan starting XI, the others being midfielder Max Power and winger James McClean.
Here's how the Black Cats line up tonight. You can follow the game as it happens in our live match blog here.
Wigan vs Sunderland line-ups
Sunderland:Patterson, Ballard, Wright, O'Nien, Hume, Michut, Neil, Clarke, Amad, Simms, Ba
Subs: Bass, Matete, Roberts, Pritchard, Stewart, Dajaku, Bennette
Wigan: Jones, Darikwa, Hughes, Tilt, McClean, Power, Naylor, Lang, Keane, Aasgaard, Fletcher
Subs: Amos, Nyambe, Cousins, Scully, Shinnie, Broadhead, Bennett
READ NEXT
- Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray explains Jewison Bennette's absence against Blackburn on Boxing Day
- Niall Huggins joins Sunderland's injury list as Tony Mowbray gives fitness update
- Tony Mowbray makes 'bigger club' claim when comparing Sunderland to Premier League sides
- Ellis Simms' Sunderland partnership with Ross Stewart is causing fear amongst Championship defences
- Ross Stewart returns but Ellis Simms gave Sunderland lift-off against Blackburn Rovers
