Sunderland will face a very familiar former player when they go up against Norwich City on Saturday.
Sunderland travel to Carrow Road for what promises to be another difficult Championship clash for the Black Cats.
Mike Dodds oversaw his first game, in his third spell as interim boss last weekend, but saw his temporary side lose 2-1 against Swansea City.
Sunderland have now lost their last three in the Championship and have dropped down into 10th place of the table, with Hull City in 6th now eight points ahead of the Black Cats.
Norwich City meanwhile sit in 7th and just one point behind the Tigers; David Wagner’s side are unbeaten in their last five Championship fixtures, drawing with Blackburn Rovers last time out.
Sunderland set to go up against Danny Batth on Saturday
Danny Batth was a key player for Sunderland last season and in the final run-in of their promotion-winning 2021/22 campaign.
He featured 40 times in the Championship last time round, captaining the side and eventually being named Sunderland’s Player of the Year; in total, Batth made 55 appearances for the Black Cats, with one goal to his name.
Despite that, the Sunderland owners seemed determined to move him as he entered the final year of his contract, eventually replacing him with the younger likes of Jenson Seelt.
But Batth, described as an ‘excellent’ player by EFL pundit Robert Earnshaw, has failed to have the same kind of impact at Carrow Road as he did at the Stadium of Light.
He’s featured just 10 times in the Championship so far this season.
Batth exit a sign of hastiness at Sunderland
Sunderland and their owners have had a pretty rocky past few months.
The Michael Beale saga is the main standout, and the Alex Pritchard drama too, which was similar to the way that Batth exited the club last summer.
Pritchard was in good form but Sunderland wanted him off their books; whilst it was said that Pritchard was offered a new deal, he wanted longer.
It was a fairly brutal outcome in the end and the same applies for Batth; he was quite literally Sunderland’s Player of the Season last year, yet he was ousted in the summer and replaced with younger blood.
And Sunderland have lacked that balance between youth and experience this season.
The Black Cats would surely have been better off with Batth in their ranks for this season as the centre-back position is one that’s been very light on numbers, especially in the last couple of weeks.
Batth, if he plays this weekend, may be out with a point to prove.