Captain Corry Evans returned to the Sunderland side, lining up against his old club Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park. The experienced Northern Ireland international replaced the injured Lynden Gooch in the side, with that change the only alteration made by ex-Rovers boss Tony Mowbray following the weekend home win against Wigan Athletic.
That meant Luke O'Nien was expected to continue at right-back, having filled that role once Gooch went off at the weekend at half-time with a foot problem. Evans - who had missed the Wigan game through suspension as he served a one-match ban after accumulating five yellow cards - slotted into central midfield alongside Dan Neil.
Blackburn boss Jon Dahl Tomasson made four changes, in his case to the side that won 2-1 at Middlesbrough on Saturday. He brought in Hayden Carter, Sammie Szmodics, Ryan Hedges, and handed 19-year-old Jake Garrett his Championship debut.
