Fleetwood vs Sunderland preview
Sunderland must win if they are to maintain their faint hopes of clinching automatic promotion
Monday 29 April 2019 18:53, UK
Fleetwood defender Harry Souttar will return to contention for the Sky Bet League One clash with promotion hopefuls Sunderland after suspension.
The 20-year-old, who is on loan from Stoke, has completed the three-match ban he received for his sending-off at Barnsley and is available once again.
However, manager Joey Barton will still be without Nathan Sheron as he serves the second instalment of a four-match suspension for his second red card of the season at Blackpool on Easter Monday.
Midfielder Jack Sowerby is available after coming off the bench in each of the last two games following a hamstring problem, while James Wallace, Craig Morgan and Dean Marney continue to work their way back to fitness.
Sunderland boss Jack Ross was keeping his cards close to his chest as he prepared his team for a game they must win if they are to maintain their faint hopes of clinching automatic promotion.
Ross revealed "two or three" players sustained knocks in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Portsmouth and although he was not naming names, he admitted some of them could miss out with the medics continuing to monitor midfielder Aiden McGeady's foot injury.
However, Chris Maguire got a further 30 minutes under his belt as a substitute against Pompey following his return from a fractured fibula, while Adam Matthews returned from the bench after a seven-game absence.
Fellow full-back Reece James is also close to being available once again, while striker Duncan Watmore (ankle ligaments) is expected to resume training this week.
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- Fleetwood will be hosting Sunderland in a league game for the first time in their history - the 55th club to visit Highbury in the Football League.
- Fleetwood visited the Stadium of Light in the reverse fixture in September - taking the lead after nine minutes thanks to Paddy Madden, eventually drawing 1-1 following a Josh Maja equaliser for Sunderland.
- Since two successive victories in March, Fleetwood are winless in their last five League One games (D3 L2). They haven't failed to record a win in six games under Joey Barton.
- Sunderland have only managed one win in their last five league games (D3 L1), drawing their last two games 1-1.
- Sunderland's Max Power has been directly involved in three goals in his last four league appearances (2 goals, 1 assist); as many as in his previous 27 games.
