Marcus Braddock previews the visit of Sunderland
This weekend we take on Sunderland in League One in our fourteenth and their thirteenth game of the season. Obviously, a club the size of Sunderland is a big draw and it wont be a surprise if this is the highest league attendance for us this season. They currently sit in fifth place in League One after six wins, five draws and a defeat that was inflicted by Burton in a 2-1 home win in mid September at the Pirelli Stadium.
Head to Head
We last played The Black Cats in August 2016 when they beat us 1-0 at the Stadium of Light in the League Cup. You have to go back to when I was a teenager when we were in the Championship in 1989 to find our next game and we were beaten at Roker Park 2-1 on that occasion. We've played Sunderland nine times in total and our best result was a 1-1 away draw in 1986.
Top Scorer
Josh Maja 9
Lee Cattermole 3
Lynden Gooch 3
Chris Maguire 3
Assists
Lynden Gooch 4
Chris Maguire 4
Adam Matthews 4
Bryan Oviedo 3
Clean Sheets
1 at home to Scunthorpe in mid August.
Stats
In away games, Sunderland has earned an average of 1.83 compared to a League One average of 1.38.
They've also scored an average of 1.83 in away games against a League One average of 1.34.
They've conceded 1.17 goals in away games this season with the average at 1.28.
Referee - John Busby. Games this season: 14. Red cards: 1. Yellow cards: 25.
Assistants - Matthew Jones and Gareth Mellor
Fourth Official - Grant Taylor.
Squad News
Sunderland midfielder Lyndon Gooch is fit to return after three games on the sidelines.
John Askey has no new injury worries and Anthony Grant is likely to return after missing out last time.
Summary
The odds aren't good for a home win this weekend and history seems to be against us with Town never having beaten Sunderland before. But most of those games were 30 years ago and there is no reason why we shouldn't get something from the game. If we play as well as we know we can, we can make life difficult for anyone.
COYB!!!