Sunderland host Swindon Town at the Stadium of Light in the SkyBet League One. Last time out Sunderland drew at Crewe and Swindon beat Northampton Sunderland needed two spectacular second half goals from Jordan Jones and Chris Maguire to rescue a point away at Gresty Road after former Black Cat, Mikael Mandron, created both goals for the Railwaymen as they took a 2-0 lead before half-time. Grant Leadbitter suffered a dislocated shoulder and is likely to be out for a number of weeks. Defenders Tom Flanagan and Ollie Younger could be back in the squad to face Swindon. The Black Cats beat the Robins 2-0 earlier in the season with goals from Charlie Wyke and Chris Maguire. Key to any potential success for Swindon will be the contribution of five-goal striker, Brett Pitman. When Pitman has scored this season, Town are undefeated in six separate matches (four wins, two draws). Swindon manager John Sheridan has been delighted with the all-around contribution of his 33-year-old forward since taking the hotseat at the County Ground, highlighting his game experience as a key factor in helping Town to survive in League One. 19 year old keeper Archie Matthews made his debut on Saturday after emergency loanee JoJo Wollacott was injured in the warm up. Swindon Town have now signed goalkeeper Connal Trueman on an emergency loan deal, with the Birmingham City man set to make his Robins debut against Sunderland. Lee Johnson: "It's a wonderful point won by two bits of individual brilliance. Both of those goals you'd expect to be in the top ten goals of the season. We needed it because in the first half it was tough to watch. I can't give you an answer why, whether it's the number of games back to back, maybe I've got to look at myself and say, was this the one to make five or six changes?” "What upset me most in the first half was the lack of enthusiasm. Where does that come from? The team energy, the attitude to receive the ball, the body language, the communication and the interplay that we just didn't have." “We had no service into Charlie Wyke, we were static, the press was laboured and slow. At our best we're like the red arrows flying across Wyke, but there was none of that” "We were outfought in the first half. It was a hard half-time team talk. I was going to make five substitutes at half time but I wanted to see what we had, and to be fair we got going a little bit. We made changes, it is a squad game, there were a couple who had a point to prove and fair play, they did.” "I'm really happy deep down to come out with a point after such a poor first hour. You have to be consistent with it. We've got to find out why. If it's technical , you work with the players, no problem.” "If it's tactical, it's my fault. If it's an attitude (problem), I'll be coming down on them like a tonne of bricks. Every individual action we'll look at. We'll speak to them, see if they're alright, ask why, and put some serious demands on them for the next game." "We don't have any further injuries or fitness news - we're as we were from the weekend, with Grant obviously out." John Sheridan: “If they’ve watched us against Crewe they’ll think they can get at us and give us lots of problems. If they watched us against Lincoln, they’ll be very wary of us.” “He’s (Pitman) been a good player for us – the biggest thing is, he’s got experience. He knows the game, and I think he wants to go into the coaching side after he retires.” “Our game plan was to be as attacking as possible because we feel we need to score more than one goal to win games. We’re not a team who, even though we’ve won 1-0 a couple of times, are known for being a great defensive team.” “We knew if we could get the ball to Jordon Garrick or Scott Twine, we could build our play through the three in midfield and create chances for Brett Pitman to score. We think that if we give him chances, he will score – his record says that throughout his career.” Match Appointments: Referee: PETER WRIGHT Assistant Referees: Kevin Mulraine and Geoffrey Liddle Fourth Official: Martin Coy Team Line ups Sunderland: Burge; Flanagan, Sanderson, McLaughin; Vokins, O’Nien, Scowen, Power; McGeady, Wyke, Jones. Subs: Matthews, Younger, Maguire, Diamond, Winchester, Gooch, O'Brien. Injured: Xhemajli, Kimpioka, Hume, Stewart, Willis, Wright, Leadbitter. Swindon Town: (3-5-2) Matthews, Conroy, Broadbent, Grounds; Caddis, Palmer, Twine, Payne, Thompson; Garrick, Pitman. Subs: Iandolo, Curran, Missilou, Hunt, Omotoye, Hope Injured: Odimayo, Wollacott, Grant, Lydon, Masterton Betting Odds: Home 4/9 Away 11/2 Draw 100/30 My two pence: Well – Crewe was always going to be a tough game given their home form, but I was not expecting a first half like that. Hopefully it was just a bad day for some and at least LJ reacted to change it. Swindon have picked up recently, beating Northampton, drawing at Lincoln and ah yes - they also beat Crewe. Time for a few more tweaks to the line-up and straight back on a winning run. I am going for a 2-0 home win as we get back on track. Live stream £10 https://www.safc.com/news/team-news/live-video Ha’way the Lads
For those who can remember - or had just filed it into filing cupboard No13 There was a sting in the tail though
Never knew about their goalie problem. Get at him and pepper him with shots. If he is nervous and we can get an early goal the floodgates may just open. As Chunk said another fab match day post RTB. Your efforts are appreciated.
How come Pitman has scored 5 goals and every game he's scored in they've never been beaten (4 wins and 2 draws)
As quoted by the Daily Record, he said post-match, “I’ve come here desperate to play football, I’m desperate to play for the club and desperate to help the club get promoted. “Any time I come on the pitch I’m trying to prove a point. Hopefully today I’ve proved one. Sounds like Jones is in Johnson's head. Hope that is reflected on the team sheet.
These matches are intriguing, not least because you're always wondering what Johnson will do next. We know, and so do the opposition, that goals can come from anywhere which makes us dangerous. Wyke has to be marked because he's always capable of knocking one in. There's no point putting two on McGeady if Jones is left one on one. The opposition also know we don't give up so, even if they score, can't relax and feel comfortable. It's fascinating to watch even if it's a car crash like the first half at Crewe,
90 minutes of up tempo football will see us win, we have to stop this not turning up in parts of games. It's hard with so many back to back games with little rest so a few changes tomorrow to freshen things up, depends who LJ has fit.
No team has lost more games than Swindon. No offence but, if we can't beat them at home, we don't deserve to go up.