Sunderland host Millwall in the Championship on Saturday.
Sunderland return to the Stadium of Light this weekend where they welcome Millwall.
The Lions have pulled themselves towards safety in recent weeks, currently sitting in 16th place of the table and now six points above Huddersfield Town in 22nd.
Neil Harris’ side have won their last two now, whilst Mike Dodds‘ Sunderland are unbeaten in three, winning their last outing 1-0 at West Brom.
The Black Cats are in 13th after losing just one of their last six.
A win for Sunderland this weekend could see them leapfrog both Bristol City and Cardiff City in 12th and 11th respectively.
Sunderland team news for Millwall
Dodds spoke to the press on Thursday and gave updates on a few players, one being Corry Evans.
The midfielders recently suffered a setback on his return to injury, but Dodds says Evans could return to the squad this weekend, if not then against Watford in the following fixture.
Elsewhere, Dennis Cirkin and Nazariy Rusyn both remain sidelined ahead of the visit of Millwall, along with the likes of Jenson Seelt, Elliot Embleton, and Niall Huggins.
How will Mike Dodds line up against Millwall
Expect Dodds to retain the back-five shape that has served Sunderland well in the last few fixtures.
They’ve certainly shored up at the back with five clean sheets in their last six games now, with Callum Styles and Timothee Pembele impressing in the wing-back roles.
So we could see a completely unchanged line up to the one that won at West Brom, with Jobe Bellingham leading the line and Dan Neil and Pierre Ekwah in the middle.
Chris Rigg seems like one who could make way given the amount of games the 16-year-old has started recently, with the 20-year-old Romaine Mundle potentially coming in for his first appearance since April 1st.
Here’s how we think Sunderland will line up against Millwall on Saturday…
Patterson (GK)
Styles
O’Nien
Ballard
Hume
Pembele
Neil
Ekwah
Clarke
Bellingham
Mundle