Sunderland vs Nottingham Forest. Sky Bet Championship.
Stadium of LightAttendance26,061.
Monday 11 September 2017 19:25, UK
Simon Grayson will have to rotate his squad once more as injuries take hold of his depleted Sunderland side, who have lost their last three Championship matches.
Captain Lee Cattermole, Aiden McGeady and Bryan Oviedo all missed Saturday's 2-1 home loss to Sheffield United while stand-in skipper Lamine Kone was substituted at half-time with a groin problem.
Oviedo is available against Nottingham Forest after missing out due to fatigue from the international break with Costa Rica, while Cattermole, Kone (groin) and McGeady (hamstring) are all set for fitness tests, with the latter most unlikely to play. Paddy McNair and Duncan Watmore (knee) are still on the sidelines, with Brendan Galloway's ankle injury set to rule him out.
Forest are hoping David Vaughan has made sufficient progress to be able to return after missing the last three games with a groin problem. If he is fit enough, the Welsh midfielder could come into the team as one of a few changes made by Reds boss Mark Warburton, who has goalkeeper Stephen Henderson available for the first time since suffering an Achilles injury in February.
Eric Lichaj and Michael Mancienne were not included in the squad for the defeat to Sheffield Wednesday and they will hope to be involved on Tuesday night.
Mustapha Carayol was back on the bench at Hillsborough after being overlooked against Newcastle and Leeds while the likes of Kieran Dowell, Andreas Bouchalakis and Daryl Murphy are also options for Warburton.
Sunderland have won their last four meetings against Forest in all competitions - though this their first encounter since August 2008.
Forest have never won a league game at the Stadium of Light in three attempts (D1 L2) - their last away win at Sunderland came at Roker Park in November 1993, with a Stan Collymore brace helping them to a 3-2 win.
The Black Cats are winless in 13 league games at the Stadium of Light (D5 L8) - their second longest winless home run in their league history (18 in 2005-06).
Nottingham Forest have lost eight of their last 10 away Championship matches on a Tuesday (D2) since a 1-0 win at Birmingham in September 2015.
No Championship player has had a hand in more goals than Barrie McKay this season (5; 2 goals, 3 assists).
Sunderland had a decent start to the season but it's all gone a little bit south again in recent weeks. They didn't look great at the weekend when they lost against Sheffield United but Simon Grayson still needs time to turn them around.
Nottingham Forest were well beaten by Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, but I think they can bounce back to get a draw at the Stadium of Light.
Prutton predicts: 1-1 (5/1 with Sky Bet)
