An away trip to Bolton will see a change of tactics for Sunderland, with Sbragia set to name Kenwyne Jones as the lone striker in a 4-5-1 formation.
With Craig Gordon requiring a knee operation and out for the rest of the season, Morton Fulop will start in goal. With George McCartney and Nyron Nosworthy also missing, it seems unlikely that Sbragia will change his back four despite the poor result last weekend.
With an extra man to start in the midfield, Teemu Tainio will almost certainly be recalled to the side and will probably occupy the more defensive role, with the other four positions being filled with four of Malbranque, Edwards, Whitehead, Leadbitter, Richardson or Reid.
Despite the poor performances of the first team as of late, there is still no room in the squad for any of the clubs youngsters like Martyn Waghorn and Jack Colback.
Sunderland (from): Fulop, Colgan, Bardsley, Ferdinand, Davenport, Collins, Ben Haim, McShane, Edwards, Richardson, Tainio, Reid, Whitehead, Leadbitter, Malbranque, Yorke, Cisse, Jones, Healy, Murphy.
Ricardo Gardner looks set to return for Bolton, but despite returning to fitness Danny Shittu and Mark Davies are likely to find themselves sitting on the bench.
Bolton (from): Jaaskelainen, Al Habsi, Hunt, Steinsson, Cahill, Shittu, Puygrenier , A O’Brien, Samuel, Taylor, Muamba, McCann, Cohen , Basham, M Davies, Gardner, Elmander, K Davies, Smolarek.
Previous meetings:
The corresponding fixture at the Stadium of Light earlier in the season turned out to be Roy Keane`s last game in charge. Several individual errors allowed Bolton to romp to a 4-1 victory. However, the result was avenged in the FA Cup as the Ricky Sbragia led Black Cats progressed through to the next round with a 2-1 win.
Last 5 games at the Reebok:
03/05/2008: Lost 2-0
18/03/2006: Lost 2-0
04/01/2003: Drew 1-1
28/10/2002: Drew 1-1
29/09/2001: Won 2-0
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