Sunderland v MK Dons – Skybet League One Last time out Sunderland beat Sheffield United and MK Dons lost to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup. The Black Cats welcome the MK Dons to the Stadium of Light on Saturday and will be looking to return to their League One campaign with a home win. New signings Joel Lynch and Laurens de Bock both played on Wednesday night and could be included in the squad. Duncan Watmore has been out of action with a persistent thigh problem since the opening day of the season, when he was used as a second-half substitute against Oxford United, and the 25-year-old is set to resume full training next week. The Dons are back to reality this weekend as they travel to Sunderland, looking to get back on the winning path in Sky Bet League One. Paul Tisdale hopes that they can use the Liverpool experience to benefit them this time. Jack Ross: “It’s not easy to go to a Premier League team and win, but to do that twice shows that we do things right, and we have good players and good staff at this club.” “When you’re asking people to believe in you and buy into what you do you need tangible rewards, and when you get a result like last night it’s an obvious reward.” “It was a good night for us, but always in football that sense of enjoyment only lasts a small period of time, and our preparations now begin for Saturday.” “We’ve got a number of players who couldn’t travel to the game last night, some of them trained today, some of them didn’t. We’ve not got a full squad, and we’ll have to assess the ones who played last night and how they recover. We’ll not really be able to do that properly until tomorrow morning, then we’ll go from there in terms of our selection. “Subject to them recovering from the game in time, they’re very much now a part of the first team squad.” “They were a part of the squad anyway, but in terms of being available for selection they were playing catch-up all of the time. They’re now getting there in terms of training - Joel’s had four weeks and Laurens three - and they’ve had some behind-closed-doors friendlies and a tough outing last night." “They’ve (MK Dons) made a solid start to their return to this level, and we know how teams respond to coming here and playing in this environment, so it’s up to us to bring a similar type of performance to what we brought last night.” Paul Tisdale: “A League One game is a very different sport to what we played tonight, but if we’ve learnt one thing, it’s that we’ve got some good players who I believe will work their way up through the leagues themselves.” “At times we had a real clarity to our game, and it’s amazing how much you can have an impact on the other team, regardless of their level. We managed to do it at times tonight and that bodes well.” “We are going to a great stadium to play a good side. The wheels are turning at Sunderland, we should be conscious of that, but we need to understand what we can do and in what way we can do that and play to our strengths." Prutton predicts: Meh Match Appointments: Referee: PAUL MARSDEN Assistants: Wayne Grunnill and Geoffrey Liddle Fourth Official: Samuel Barrott Team Line ups Sunderland: J.McLaughlin, O’Nien, Ozturk, Willis, Hume, Power, Dobson, Gooch, McGeady, Maguire, McNulty Subs: Burge, Flanagan, De Bock, Lynch, Leadbitter, McGeouch, Wyke Injured: Watmore, Embleton MK Dons Moore, Williams, Poole, Walsh, Brittain, Kasumu, McGrandles, Gilbey, Dickenson, Bowery, Nombe Subs: Nicholls, Lewington, Agard, Martin, Houghton, Boateng, Harley Injured: tbc Betting Odds: Home 4/6 Away 18/5 Draw 14/5 My two pence: After a great win and a good battling performance against the Blades, it’s back to the more important business of getting out of this league. The added bonus of keeping a much sought after clean sheet will give Jack Ross plenty to think about as he re-shuffles his first team squad. My guess is a 3-1 home win Welcome to all the newbies Ha’way the Lads
Excellent thread as usual mate. These games have become incredibly difficult to predict, the team selection and formation are often a surprise and we start slowly even if we score. A goal start sometimes seems to be a curse rather than a blessing. A win is to be expected though so a defeat, and a poor performance, would really put some pressure on Jack Ross. Sod it, 3-0 to Sunderland, Haway the Lads!!!
I'll be surprised if Ross picks the above starting eleven, but the bench looks very strong, so any weaknesses should be quickly addressed, and the formation altered, if JR is in his new track suit mode, he will do . Some on the bench might even start the game, who knows, its only a matter of time imo. should win by a distance and automatics here we come. OaU PS have we cloned a Dobson
I don't think I saw all of it but MK Dons looked good against Liverpool, just lacking a bit of quality upfront that we had with Power. I'm expecting a tough game. Any major news official or otherwise about the takeover before kick off will produce a party atmosphere so regardless of the result I'm looking forward to a buzzing stadium. I do think we'll win though.
I would like to see the two full backs in that team moved forward into midfield with Power and McGouch playing De Brock and McLaughlin at full back they were both solid against Sheffield, and Hume and O/9 will bring pace and energy further forward, its a gamble but our last home game was very poor and a change is needed, its going to come sooner or later though, injuries permitting, so not too worried. I also noticed that McGeouch is not in the above ranks, as for Grigg no thanks..
There's a growing crowd building against Ross but i still think we will get a lot better under him . Hopefully its already started against Sheffield. 4 - 0 HA'WAY THE LADS MACKEMS ATTACKEM
Think there will be one or two surprise inclusions to the starting 11 tomorrow, particularly between the sticks, but we'll see. I can only see a confident home win for the lads, so am going 3-0.
I saw some of the highlights and they looked big, quick and a threat, but we are starting to have options, its just how quickly Ross can gel what he has into an outfit, fit for purpose, and the purpose is to win. This league is a scrap heap, full of scrappers, and I.don't want any party atmosphere's until the final whistle, and I want it to be SAFC partying.
Great post as usual RTB. To me when you win away at Burnley and Sheffield United yet struggle against Bolton and Rotherham it's all down to attitude. We clearly have the potential to go quite some way with our current squad. Is it the players fault or management for the attitude....probably both but we need to rectify it quickly as points dropped against team like Bolton can come back to bite us in the arse at the end of the season. Tomorrow going for a 4 - 0 win....this team has to have a break out game soon. Onward and upwards....haway the lads!
What's your thoughts on that do you reckon Burge might be a better keeper? McLaughlin is a great shot stopper and that was a relief after inexplicably having multiple keepers that couldn't save a damn thing but he's not the complete package, his distribution is either inaccurate or too slow.
Tough call on either keeper if hes on the bench, but I would only make one change to the defence that stood firm at Sheffield and that would be Either Ozzy or even Willis for Flanagan. On the keeper front its good news that we have two guduns and this could make the international breaks less damaging in future.
Finger's crossed 4-1 to the lad's, two now't up at half time will put a grin on me old mush. We have to play hard from the off.ktf.ftm.