Tony Mowbray named the same starting XI that began Sunderland's draw at Watford going into the international break. With Ross Stewart and Ellis Simms still sidelined through injury, that meant that Alex Pritchard was again deployed as a false nine, with Patrick Roberts and Elliot Embleton playing off him.
Dennis Cirkin returned to training this week after recovering from a hamstring issue but is not yet ready to be included in the squad, with Aji Alese - who scored at Watford - continuing in defence instead. Jewison Bennette was included on the bench despite having limited training on Wearside this week following his long journey from South Korea, where he had been on international duty with Costa Rica.
The one change to the squad saw Mowbray name ex-Preston man Bailey Wright amongst the subs, replacing Trai Hume. Australia defender Wright had missed Sunderland's games at Reading and Watford for family reasons.
