Tony Mowbray handed January signing Pierre Ekwah his first senior start as one of three changes at Burnley to the Sunderland side that started the draw against Luton Town at the Stadium of Light going into the international break. Former West Ham midfielder Ekwah came into the side in place of Edouard Michut, who had to settle for a place on the bench having only returned from international duty with France U19s on Thursday.
Abdoullah Ba was also part of the France U19 squad and he was also dropped to the Sunderland bench at Turf Moor, with Alex Pritchard taking his place. The third change was forced upon Mowbray after Dan Ballard picked up a hamstring injury while away with Northern Ireland.
Lynden Gooch came into the side to play at full-back, which allowed Luke O'Nien to move to fill the gap left by Ballard in central defence. It was Gooch's first start since suffering a hip flexor injury in mid-January, although he had been involved from the bench in each of the last three games.
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On-loan Manchester United forward Amad was away with the Ivory Coast national side during the international break and, as Mowbray had hinted this week, his long trip back to Wearside meant he was named on the bench rather than in the starting XI. Dennis Cirkin was also included amongst the subs after recovering from the after-effects of concussion.
Burnley boss Vincent Kompany made five changes, in his case to the side that lost 6-0 against Manchester City in the FA Cup heading into the international break. Arijanet Muric returned in goal, with Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Josh Brownhill, Manuel Benson, and Ashley Barnes also coming into the side.
Bailey Peacock-Farrell, Johann Berg Gudmundsson, Ameen Al Dakhil, Vitinho, and Lyle Foster were the men to make way.
You can get in-game analysis from James Hunter at Turf Moor as it happens tonight in our live blog here.
Tonight's teams
Sunderland: Patterson, Hume, O'Nien, Batth, Gooch, Neil, Ekwah, Roberts, Pritchard, Clarke, Gelhardt
Subs: Bass, Amad, Lihadji, Ba, Anderson, Michut, Cirkin
Burnley: Muric, Roberts, Harwood-Bellis, Beyer, Maatsen, Cullen, Brownhill, Benson, Tella, Zaroury, Barnes
Subs: Peacock-Farrell, Cork, Gudmundsson, Ekdal, Vitinho, Twine, Obafemi
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