Six Sunderland internationals go head-to-head

Up to six Sunderland players could be facing each other next Friday across World Cup qualifiers.

Seb Larsson, called up by Sweden will be looking to face Republic of Ireland trio John O’Shea, James McClean and Keiren Westwood as the two countries meet in Stockholm next Friday.

The Irish will then host Austria in a second Group C match on March 26 at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

In Group A, Scotland striker Steven Fletcher could face Sunderland team-mate David Vaughan of Wales as the two Home Nations do battle in Glasgow.

Scotland will travel to Serbia four days later, whilst Chris Coleman’s Wales host second-placed Croatia.

Finally, Stuart Pearce has included recently re-called striker Connor Wickham in his 28-man England U21’s squad for a friendly double-header against Romania and Austria.

The Young Lions take on Romania at Wycombe Wanderers’ Adams Park on March 21, before playing Austria at Brighton’s AmEx Stadium on March 25.

England have qualified for June’s 2013 U21 European Championships and these fixtures provide Pearce with his last opportunity to evaluate his squad ahead of the tournament.