Sunderland travel to Sheffield Wednesday on Friday night with the intention of heaping additional misery on the struggling Owls. Xisco Munoz’s team is at the bottom of the Championship and has yet to win.
Even at this early stage of the season, they are already out of the relegation zone. Wednesday is a far from cheerful place right now, with plenty of fan unrest at both on- and off-field events.
Sunderland will arrive with the intention of inflicting even more anguish on their hosts. They will also be seeking to regain form after a hiccup last time out. Last Sunday, Tony Mowbray’s men were defeated 1-0 at home by Cardiff City.
Former Wednesday loanee Mark McGuinness made a late appearance.
Inside the final few minutes at the Stadium of Light, he came home from a corner.
Despite the setback, Sunderland remains in fifth place and will be expecting to win again in S6. They do, however, have a number of injury concerns going into the game.
Bradley Dack, a key midfielder, is anticipated to miss the game. The 29-year-old has missed the Black Cats’ last three games due to a hamstring strain and is unlikely to return in time for the Hillsborough trip.
Mowbray recently discussed the importance of the ex-Blackburn man, but also how it was unrealistic to expect him to play game in, game out given his injury issues in previous years.
“There was no intention of bringing Bradley in with two cruciates and expecting him to play 40-odd games,” he remarked. We’ll be thrilled if Bradley Dack can play in 25 games this season.”
Jewison Bennette (illness), Pierre Ekwah (dead leg), and Dennis Cirkin (hamstring) are also questionable. There are also a few long-term absentees, such as Corry Evans and Jay Matete. Sunderland has been given an additional allocation, which means there will be 3,600 Mackems in the away end on Friday night (8 p.m. kick-off).
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