Strikerless Sunderland must find a way to break down the best defence in the Championship this weekend when Preston North End arrive on Wearside. The Black Cats take on the Lancashire outfit at the Stadium of Light tomorrow as their season resumes after the international break, looking to build on their excellent away performances which saw them pick up four points on the road against Reading and Watford.
And they will come up against a Preston side with the tightest defence in the division after ten games, conceded only four goals so far and having set a new Championship record of seven consecutive clean sheets at the start of the season. Sunderland will once again go into the game without a specialist centre-forward with Ross Stewart and Ellis Simms both absent through injury, but in their absence boss Tony Mowbray has used Alex Pritchard as a false nine and in the last two games and the Black Cats scored three goals at Reading and twice at Watford.
Tomorrow's clash will be arguably even more difficult against a side with such a robust back line. "It became a story at the start of the season because Preston had four nil-nils out of five, seven clean sheets in a row, and they have conceded the fewest goals in the league over ten games," said Mowbray.
