Sunderland head to West Brom in the Championship on Saturday.
Sunderland are back on the road once more, and once again they face top six opposition in the Championship.
Last time out, Mike Dodds watched on as his side earned a credible point in a 0-0 draw away at Leeds United, and he’ll need the same kind of mentality at West Brom this weekend.
The Baggies currently sit in 5th place of the table and have only lost one of their last 13 in the Championship.
Sunderland meanwhile have lost just one of their last five now, with four clean sheets in that time too, albeit just the one win.
Sunderland team news
Ahead of the trip to The Hawthorns, Sunderland have a few injury concerns.
Corry Evans remains doubtful after suffering another injury setback in training, albeit a minor setback with a return this season still on the cards.
Elsewhere, Nazariy Rusyn remains sidelined with a calf injury, with the West Brom game likely coming too soon for Dennis Cirkin as he nears a return to action.
Jenson Seelt and Niall Huggins both remain sidelined with longer-term knee injuries, whilst Elliot Embleton also remains a longer-term casualty.
How will Mike Dodds line up against West Brom
Dodds had good success with a back-five formation against Leeds United, so we could expect to see the same formation against an equally strong opposition on Saturday.
Timothee Pembele and Callum Styles impressed in the left and right wing-back positions respectively, and Dan Neil shone in the midfield too.
A main talking point may be whether or not Dodds hands another start to 16-year-old Chris Rigg.
He’s started the last two now but has been brought off close to the hour mark in both games, and in a bid to avoid over-exposing the youngster, Dodds might opt to bring Romaine Mundle back into the XI.
Other than that one potential change, we’re expecting to see an unchanged Sunderland XI for the game at West Brom…
Patterson (GK)
Styles
O’Nien
Ballard
Hume
Pembele
Neil
Ekwah
Clarke
Mundle
Bellingham