Sunderland will be hoping to build on their draw at home to top four hopefuls Spurs at the weekend while Blackburn will want to end their two game losing run, and hope that Jon Stead doesn’t end his drought against his former club.
Vital Quotes:
Mick McCarthy:
‘Maybe fate will decide that Stead scores his first one at Blackburn, I don’t know.
‘We expect him to score. He came here with a belief that he would. We expect him to score, expect Kevin Kyle, Andy Gray and Stephen Elliott to score too.’
Blackburn manager Mark Hughes:
‘Our performance (at Everton) wasn’t anyway near where it needs to be to win Premier League games.
‘The important thing from our view now is we’ve got a game against Sunderland back at Ewood and we’ve really got to come out of the traps and start producing performances that we know we are capable of.’
Blackburn Team News:
Former Sunderland target Morten Gamst Pederson is likely to return to the starting line up in place of Brett Emerton after the winger recovered from a knee problem.
Despite being wanted by police for questioning, ex-mag striker Craig Bellamy is set to start upfront for Blackburn, and will be hoping to get one over the Sunderland fans.
Player to watch: Morten Gamst Pederson
The dynamic winger has been Blackburn’s main threat this season, scoring several wonder goals along the way. Nosworthy will have to repeat his performance from Sunday to keep this adversary at bay.
Sunderland Team News:
Sunderland welcome back Dean Whitehead, Steven Caldwell and Stephen Wright from suspension, though the latter is struggling with injury and will allow Nyron Nosworthy to retain his place at right back.
George McCartney will leave it till the last minute to see if he is fit to play, with Stephen Elliot and Rory Delap still on the sidelines.
Daryl Murphy and Grant Leadbitter are pushing for places after impressing against Spurs, and McCarthy has hinted that he may try a 4-3-3 formation to accomodate them.
Player to watch: Jon Stead
It’s becoming tiresome simply praising his performances and excusing his lack of goals. Strikers are there to score and when Daryl Murphy took only ten minutes to do so on Sunday it makes Stead’s case look worse.
Tomorrow night he has more to prove against his old manager and fans and will be at his most desperate to score in this fixture. Expect him to be heavily involved.
Match Facts & Stats
HEAD TO HEAD TOTALS;
League: Blackburn 37 wins, Sunderland 56, Draws 23
Prem: Blackburn 1 win, Sunderland 2, Draws 3
HEAD TO HEAD at Ewood Park;
League: Blackburn 26 wins, Sunderland 16, Draws 16
Prem: Blackburn 1 win, Sunderland 1, Draws 1
Ref Watch:
Keith Stroud (Hampshire)
Match Prediction:
Should Sunderland concede an early goal the game may well be over, however if they restrict the home team early on they will fancy their chances of at least a point. 1-1
