Middlesbrough have suffered a major blow after three players pulled out of their midweek win over Cardiff City.
Jonny Howson, Rav van den Berg and Lewis O’Brien were all left out of the match-day squad on Tuesday night and the Sunderland Echo have reported that they could all be out of action for their trip to Wearside this weekend.
Sunderland have been in brilliant form since overcoming their difficult start to the season, winning five of their last seven matches in the Championship. The Black Cats will be full of confidence as they take on their local rivals, however Boro have also managed to turn things around in recent weeks.
Michael Carrick’s side found themselves in the relegation zone after losing five of their opening six fixtures, however they have since won four matches in all competitions on the bounce.
Sunderland could benefit from Boro’s defensive woes
It could prove to be a very tight test at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, however Boro might find the task head a lot trickier without three key players.
Howson, Van den Berg and O’Brien all started for Boro in their win away to Watford at the weekend, with the latter forced off in the first half. With all three absent yesterday, Carrick was forced to rearrange his team selection.
While they still claimed the three points, missing some of their key players at Sunderland could be a game-changer.
Van den Berg and O’Brien occupied the full-back spots against Cardiff and the Black Cats could be boosted by their potential absence at the weekend. Sunderland’s biggest assets are arguably their tricky, pacy forwards and Jack Clarke will be hoping to have an enjoyable afternoon against their back-up defenders.