Ross Stewart made his first start since August as Tony Mowbray made four changes to his Sunderland side to face Blackburn Rovers at the Stadium of Light. Stewart came off the bench to score against Hull City last weekend in his comeback game after a lengthy absence with a thigh injury.
And after playing half-an-hour against the Tigers, the Scotland international striker was passed fit to start against Rovers and he replaced Ellis Simms, who dropped to the bench. Centre-back Dan Ballard also made his comeback from the bench against Hull, in his case from a fractured foot suffered in August, and he started against Blackburn in place of the injured Danny Batth - the man he had replaced as an early sub at the MKM Stadium.
Patrick Roberts returned to the side in place of Elliot Embleton, who broke his ankle and was also sent off at Hull. And the fourth change saw Dennis Cirkin come in at left-back to take the place of Aji Alese, who was absent from the squad presumably through injury.
READ MORE: Sunderland vs Blackburn Rovers LIVE: All the build-up from the Stadium of Light
Edouard Michut, Bailey Wright, and Trai Hume were named among the subs, but there was no place for Jewison Bennette. After making numerous changes for the midweek Carabao Cup exit at the hands of Nottingham Forest, Blackburn boss Jon Dahl Tomasson reverted back to his strongest line-up on Wearside.
But he made one change to the side that started last weekend's Championship win at Norwich City, with Ryan Hedges replacing the injured Tyrhys Dolan. You can follow all the action in our live blog here.
Today's teams
Sunderland: Patterson, Gooch, Ballard, O'Nien, Cirkin, Evans, Neil, Roberts, Amad, Clarke, Stewart
Subs: Bass, Simms, Matete, Ba, Michut, Wright, Hume
Blackburn Rovers: Kaminski, Ayala, Hyam, Pickering, Costello, Morton, Buckley, Dack, Hedges, Gallagher, Brereton-Diaz
Subs: Pears, Hirst, Wharton, Markanday, Travis, Garrett, Phillips
READ NEXT:
- Sunderland prepared to listen to loan offers for fringe players next month, says Tony Mowbray
- Sunderland's tale of triumph over adversity and 'what ifs'
- Tony Mowbray confident Amad will see out his season-long loan at Sunderland
- Elliot Embleton could return for Sunderland before the end of the season
- Tony Mowbray on Sunderland's mixed fortunes as injuries continue to hamper side
