Tomorrow lunchtime, Sunderland travel to the Riverside to take on Middlesbrough in the Tees-Wear derby.
The two sides renew hostilities after Sunderland were thrashed 4-0 by Boro at the Stadium of Light in October.
Since then, the Black Cats’ form has been topsy-turvy, however, they are still firmly in the race for the playoffs and can leapfrog Coventry into sixth place by beating their North East rivals.
Of course, recent history dictates that it won’t be easy for Sunderland to beat Michael Carrick’s side having lost six of their last nine meetings in all competitions.
Despite bringing in three new faces in the transfer window, including Callum Styles, Leo Hjelde and Romaine Mundle, there is already huge pressure on Michael Beale to deliver after a far-from-uncertain start in the dugout.
A victory over Boro, though, would do wonders for his rapport with Sunderland supporters and while it may not get them back on his side, it would strengthen their hopes of finishing in the play-offs.
Beale could have Patrick Roberts available for selection after spending a period on the sidelines while new signings Mundle and Hjelde will make the matchday squad.
Here’s our predicted Sunderland XI against Middlesbrough…
Sunderland predicted XI vs Middlesbrough – Leo Hjelde starts
Despite interest from Premier League sides in January, Anthony Patterson remained at the club and keeps his place in goal.
Beale’s tackling machine Trai Hume played left back against Stoke, but he’s likely to return to his favoured right-back role against Boro to offer the Black Cats more balance.
As for the central defence, the partnership of Dan Ballard and Luke O’Nien is unbreakable. The pair have been integral to their play-off hopes, keeping seven clean sheets in 28 matches.
Those three are unchanged from the side that beat Stoke while new arrival Hjelde could be thrown straight in for his debut at left-back given Aji Alese, Niall Huggins and Dennis Cirkin are all injured.
Sunderland’s midfield was brilliant against the Potters. Dan Neil acted as the anchor in the front of the defence, which unleashed Pierre Ekwah from the shackles of his defensive midfield role and he thrived in an advanced position. The Frenchman should partner Jobe Bellingham further forward once more against Boro.
While Roberts is in contention to return on the right, Beale can’t drop Abdoullah Ba after he scored and assisted twice against Stoke.
Jack Clarke needs no introduction on the left. Despite late interest from Lazio, he remained at the Stadium of Light and will be looking to add to his 13 strikes this term.
After scoring his first goal for Sunderland last weekend, Mason Burstow will be full of confidence and he will be desperate to score against the Black Cats rivals.