Shrewsbury Town are back on the road on Friday afternoon as Steve Cotterill’s side make the long journey up to Wearside to face Sunderland in Sky Bet League One.
Salop make the trip north off the back of their 1-1 draw at home to Ipswich Town last weekend, with a late Shaun Whalley wonder goal securing a point.
Sunderland come into this off the back of a 2-1 away win to Oxford United and are now on a four-match unbeaten streak. The Black Cats currently occupy the final play-off place in sixth position on 73 points. However, a bad run of results in February - which included a 6-0 humiliation away to Bolton and a 2-1 home defeat to relegation-threatened Doncaster Rovers - halted their chances of sealing a play-off place early. They are level on points with both fifth-place Sheffield Wednesday and seventh-place Wycombe Wanderers.
Alex Neil only took charge at the Stadium of Light in February and has made Sunderland look like a different team, losing only once in his ten games in charge. For a club that was in the Premier League six years ago, Neil along with the Sunderland faithful will be hoping that he can get the club back to the place they believe they deserve to be.
Name: Sunderland A.F.C
Founded: 1879 (142 years ago) as Sunderland and District Teachers
Chairman: Kyril Louis-Dreyfus
Biggest Victory: 8-1 vs Aston Villa Under-21s, EFL Trophy, August 2020
Biggest Defeat: 8-0 vs:
· Southampton, Premier League, October 2014
· Watford, First Division, September 1982
· West Ham United, First Division, October 1968
Highest League Finish: 7th, Premier League, 1999-00 & 2000-01
One to Watch: Ross Stewart
Alongside Cole Stockton of Morecambe, Stewart is the league’s top goalscorer with 22 goals this campaign. Despite being on a run of six games without any goal contributions, he is still Sunderland’s dangerman and will pose arguably the biggest threat to Salop on Friday.
