With the race for playoff places in the League One table hotting up, Sunderland will aim for a third straight win on Friday, when they host Shrewsbury Town.
The Black Cats sit sixth with four games left to play but only lead seventh-placed Wycombe Wanderers on goal difference.
Match preview
After seeing their promotion hopes begin to fade under Lee Johnson, Sunderland made the decision to replace him with Alex Neil in February, and the new manager has quickly brought about positive change at the Stadium of Light.
Having previously sat well outside of the playoff places, the Black Cats have now climbed back into sixth spot thanks to an eight-game unbeaten run in England's third tier, collecting 18 points along the way.
That spell includes back-to-back wins heading into Friday, having firstly beaten strugglers Gillingham 1-0 at home.
The Black Cats then took on Oxford United in a true six-pointer at the weekend, with both on the brink of the playoffs, and they triumphed with a 2-1 victory thanks to Elliot Embleton's 89th-minute winner after Corry Evans's opener was cancelled out.
While that leaves Neil's men inside the top six, fifth-placed Sheffield Wednesday and seventh-placed Wycombe are both level on points, meaning they cannot afford to let up if they are to take one of the two available playoff spots in the final run of the season.
They welcome a Shrewsbury Town side who will aim to finish the season with a positive run to cement a mid-table position.
The Shrews have consistently kept themselves away from the scrap at the bottom end of the table over the course of the campaign, collecting 49 points from their 42 outings thus far.
After a tough spell of form early in the new year, they caught eyes with an impressive three-game winning run in March, firstly thrashing Morecambe 5-0 before toppling Rotherham United, who sat atop the division at the time, with Daniel Udoh, Elliott Bennett and Ryan Bowman on the scoresheet in a 3-0 away victory.
Steve Cotterill's men then made it three on the bounce by defeating Lincoln City but went on to fall to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of a promotion-chasing MK Dons side before earning a creditable point against Ipswich Town last time out.
James Norwood put the promotion-chasers ahead early on, but, after Cameron Burgess's red card, Shaun Whalley salvaged a point for Shrewsbury in the dying minutes, and they will be keen to add to that positive result on Friday with the chance to cut the gap to the four sides who lie just out of reach as high as 12th place.
- D
- W
- W
- D
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
- L
- D
Team News
Attacking midfielder Elliot Embleton will be vying for a return to the Sunderland starting XI after his winning goal off the bench last time out, with the likes of Nathan Broadhead and Patrick Roberts potentially at risk of dropping out.
Ross Stewart will continue to lead the line, having netted a joint-league-high tally of 22 goals in the third tier this term.
Midfielder Alex Pritchard, who has been a key man for the Black Cats this season, is a particularly big miss through injury, and Corry Evans and Jay Matete could again form the central unit in his absence, while the back three of Bailey Wright, Dennis Cirkin and Carl Winchester will likely remain unchanged.
Similarly, Steve Cotterill is unlikely to make too many changes to his team, although the continued absence of defender Ethan Ebanks-Landell does leave a gap in the defence, with full-back Luke Leahy forced to deputise alongside Tom Flanagan and Matthew Pennington.
Flanagan will line up against his former team, after leaving Sunderland for the Shrews in January, with the Northern Ireland international quickly becoming a mainstay at New Meadow.
Shaun Whalley will hope to earn a start after his equaliser off the bench last time out, although the potent duo of Ryan Bowman and top scorer Daniel Udoh will be difficult to displace.
Sunderland possible starting lineup:
Patterson; Winchester, Wright, Cirkin; Gooch, Evans, Matete, Clark; Embleton, Broadhead; Stewart
Shrewsbury Town possible starting lineup:
Marosi; Pennington, Flanagan, Leahy; Daniels, Bennett, Fornah, Vela, Nurse; Bowman, Udoh
We say: Sunderland 2-1 Shrewsbury Town
With momentum on their side and the need for three points to stay in the top six, we back the hosts to get over the line on Friday.
The visitors have shown themselves to be a difficult side to beat throughout the season, but they may not have enough to hold a strong Black Cats team playing with confidence on home turf.
body check tags ::
Previews by email
