Tony Mowbray is likely to make a couple of changes for Sunderland's FA Cup fourth round replay against Fulham on Wearside tomorrow night to guard against burnout with a busy fixture schedule ahead. The Black Cats boss will have to make at least one change, with on-loan Leeds United striker Joe Gelhardt - who made his debut in Saturday's draw at Millwall - cup-tied.
But Mowbray is also considering other changes mindful of the fact that his team is in the midst of a sequence that, starting with that trip to Millwall, sees them play Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday, and victory against Fulham would see another Tuesday-Saturday combination tacked on at the end of that run. Asked whether he would take into account those demands, Mowbray said: "I think that's the dilemma.
"We're in this situation, at this stage of the season. I haven't been here two or three years so I need to see how this team reacts. The positive of me sitting here and telling you how young the team is - I read the stat that the average age of the starting XI at Millwall was 22.5 - is that all the players should be fit and powerful and able to run.
