Good afternoon and welcome to our live text commentary as Sunderland hunt their third win in the space of seven days with a visit to Swansea City. Yep, Gus Poyet's side beat fellow Premier League strugglers Burnley 2-0 last week to move four points clear of danger, before winning 3-1 at Fulham to advance into the fifth round of the FA Cup. Surely another victory is pushing it?

And what for Swansea? Well they're charged with the task of restoring some Welsh pride against English opposition after Wales lost to England in last night's Six Nations curtain-raiser in Cardiff. They beat in-form Southampton 1-0 last week, with Jonjo Shelvey's late stunner giving them their first Premier League win in 2015. So, it's nicely poised this afternoon as both sides ride a crest of a wave into this one!

There's plenty to chew on this afternoon, but first we must give a doff of the cap to Swansea boss Garry Monk. It's a year and three days since the ginger-haired young manager stepped into a caretaker role to replace Michael Laudrup, and what a fantastic job he has done in a relatively short space of time. Monk has won 51 points from 37 Premier League games over the past 12 months, and surely the 35-year-old has a bright future in management.

Right, let's get into a bit of team news shall we? Okay, but first have a quick watch of our preview to see what the lads down at Sports Mole HQ have had to say on this one. Ah go on.

SWANSEA XI: Fabianski; Naughton, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor; Ki Seung-Yeung, Cork, Barrow, Dyer, Shelvey; Gomis

SUNDERLAND XI: Pantilimon, Reveillere, O'Shea (c), Vergini, van Aanholt, Bridcutt, Larsson, Gomez, Alvarez, Graham, Defoe

SWANSEA SUBS: Tremmel, Rangel, Amat, Fulton, Carroll, Montero, Oliveira

SUNDERLAND SUBS: Brown, Fletcher, Johnson, Coates, Giaccherini, Mannone, Agnew

Okey dokey, let's start with the hosts then and I can tell you that Monk makes three changes from that win over the Saints, and they all come in midfield. Firstly, Jack Cork comes in for his Swansea debut to displace Tom Carroll, and he'll partner Ki Sung-Yeung, who replaces Jay Fulton. Then you've got Modou Barrow coming in for the injured Marvin Emnes and that's that.

And what about Sunderland? Well, Gus Poyet makes two changes from his side's 2-0 win over Burnley. Adam Johnson and Connor Wickham - who scored against the Clarets - drop out for Ricky Alvarez and Danny Graham respectively.

Incidentally, it's Graham's first Premier League start for Sunderland since the final day of the 2012-13 campaign - and it's only against his former club! He played such a key role in helping Swansea earn promotion to the top flight under Brendan Rodgers in the 2010-11 season, and here he is lining up against the Welsh club. Will he come back to haunt them? Probably not because he isn't very good, but let's see.

What an opportunity Bafetimbi Gomis has now that Wilfried Bony has left for Manchester City. The Frenchman played second-fiddle to the Ivorian for much of the season, which is understandable considering Bony's class, but that role of first-choice striker is very much his now and he needs to make it his own. He's performed okay but he hasn't been scoring and has failed to find the net in the Premier League since November - his only league goal.

Of course, it won't help him that Gylfi Sigurdsson is still suspended. The influential Iceland international (#alliteration) has four goals and eight assists this season, but he's serving the second of a three-match ban this afternoon so, if Gomis does find a net, he'll need service from other players - and one player who that could well be is Jefferson Montero.

The South American winger returns today after suffering a hamstring injury in the Swans' FA Cup win over Blackburn Rovers, but he's only on the bench. Nevertheless, with three assists in nine games, he's definitely one that Sunderland will have to look out for if and when he comes on because he's an absolute nuisance.

And who can Sunderland look to for a bit of inspiration? Well, Adam Johnson and Steven Fletcher are the Black Cats' leading scorers this season with four, but it's obvious that January signing Jermain Defoe is the one to look out for from a Swansea perspective. He netted his first goal for the club in last week's 2-0 win over Burnley, and Ashley Williams, who was actually outstanding at St Mary's, will have to be good here again to keep the little man quiet.

DID YOU KNOW? Sunderland's last victory away to Swansea came in a 2-1 win back in November 1963 - 52 years ago! Interestingly, it was the day after JFK was gunned down. There's a bit of trivia for you.

PREDICTION: Right, we're nearing kickoff so let's lodge a pre-match prediction, and I'll go for a 2-2 draw. Despite beating Swansea last week, I think their incentive will drop just a tad this afternoon and Sunderland, on the crest of a wave themselves, will earn a hard-fought point. It's a bold prediction, but fortune favours the brave. 10 minutes until kickoff.

I'm looking forward to seeing Ricky Alvarez this afternoon. He was superb against Fulham in their FA Cup win in midweek so it'll be interesing to see if he can bring that form into the Premier League. Once courted by Arsenal, the Argentine certainly has a big reputation to live up to but it's not gone well for him at Inter Milan in recent seasons, hence why he was allowed to join Sunderland on loan in the summer.

Right, both sets of players emerge from the tunnel it seems and we'll be underway in just a few minutes. Ashley Williams leads Swansea; O'Shea leads Sunderland and Phil Dowd leads his two officials.

KICKOFF: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we're off in South Wales, ladies and gents. Sunderland get us underway. I fancy a decent enough game so let's hope I'm vindicated.

Looks like Shelvey is lining up in that number 10 role in the absence of Gylfi Sigurdsson, who remains suspended as we mentioned. We've seen very little of Sunderland so far.

Good work from Costel Pantilimon who operated as a sweeper-keeper just then and beat Gomis to a 50-50 ball following Shelvey's searching pass from well in his own half. The Black Cats will have to watch out for Shelvey's passing this afternoon.

Modou Barrow had an acre of space down the right-hand flank here, and he just coasted into the danger zone and picked a pass to Shelvey, but O'Shea thwarted the midfielder in his bid to screw the ball home.

CLOSE! What a hit this is from Gomis, but it's wide as he volleys Shelvey's cut-back just past the post from outside the box. Fine effort.

It seems like we've got a dash of royalty inside the Liberty Stadium as Prince Albert of Monaco looks to be in attendance. Why? Lord knows, but he's very welcome I'm sure. Good thing they haven't got metal detectors at the turnstiles otherwise he wouldn't have got in with that piercing.

BOOKING: We've seen our first booking, and it's Jack Cork as he concedes a cheap yellow card for kicking the ball away. He's on a tightrope for the rest of his debut now, and being a centre midfielder he's bound to be involved quite a bit.

Brilliant tackle from Federico Fernandez here as he thwarts Defoe as he went through on goal following a Jordi Gomez ball. Fine challenge.

Sunderland just coming into this one a little bit more in recent minutes. I punted for 2-2 before kickoff and I stand by it. There's certainly goals in this one. If it's a 0-0 I'll eat my hat. That's not legally binding.

CLOSE! Oh lord this is incredibly close. Shelvey finds himself swarmed by red and white shirts as soon as he picks the ball up in the box, but he manages to get a shot away and it trickles agonisingly wide of Sunderland's post. Pantilimon was beaten.

Sunderland fans break into a rendition of 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot' in what is most probably a dig at Swansea fans after England beat Wales in ruggerball last night.

SHOT! Nathan Dyer drags a shot horrendously wide of Pantilimon's goal, but it was fantastic build-up from Swansea, and Gomis in particular. Promising. Shelvey's been very good in this first 25 minutes, too.

SHOT! This is a fine effort from Shelvey. He's about 35 yards from goal and he drills a ferocious free kick at goal, but it's straight down the middle and Pantilimon is able to gather.

SAVE! We've seen the first real chance, and it's fine goalkeeping from Pantilimon. The Romanian is quick off his line to save Gomis's chance from close range. Swansea well on top.

Half-an-hour in and Swansea are bossing this one. They're in complete control but they're yet to find the net, with Gomis's chance a few minutes ago the first and only real chance of a decent first half.

BOOKING: Nathan Dyer makes it 2-0 Swansea in the yellow card stakes, as the little winger goes into the book for a late challenge on Anthony Reveillere.

CHANCE! Oh no this would, and should, have been a brilliant goal. It's fine one-touch passing from Swansea as Dyer finds Barrow out wide, and Gomis looks to tap home the winger's first-time cross but he slides with his right foot instead of his left and misses the target. Really poor.

SHOT! I think this is Sunderland's first shot of the game, and it's Defoe, who takes aim from well outside the box, hoping to use Federico Fernandez as a sheild to obscure Fabianski's vision, but it's a bit wide.

OFFSIDE GOAL! Ki Sung-Yeung thought he fired Swansea ahead from Shelvey's free kick, but he's rightly ruled offside. It wasn't a free kick in the first place, so it would've been harsh had that gone against them.

Where on earth did this come from? Defoe runs unchallenged from the halfway line, drops the shoulder to deceive Fernandez I think it was, before drilling past Fabianski with that trademark shot of his. Fine goal, one that came from absolutely nothing.

That will hurt Swansea, who absolutely dominated that half but, somehow, they find themselves a goal down after what I can only describe as a sucker-punch. Defoe fires the visitors into a 1-0 half-time lead after being allowed to run at Swansea's defence from the halfway line, before punishing them with a very well taken goal.

RESTART! Aaaaaaaaaaand we're back. There's one change to tell you about Jefferson Montero replaces Modou Barrow. Word to the wise: Montero can be an absolute nuisance to opposition defender. He's got blistering pace.

PENALTY APPEAL: This is a little dodgy, as Ricky Alvarez goes to ground after Ashley Williams dangled his leg out, but Dowd rubbished appeals.

CHANCE! This is a fine chance from Federico Fernandez, who thrashes a volley over the bar from close range following Shelvey's free kick.

Swansea still dominating this one but you wonder if they've got the cutting edge in the final third, with Gomis still looking rather ineffective in the early stages of this half.

SHOT! Shelvey still at the heart of everything that Swansea create, and he's just had a shot that has looped narrowly over the bar. Swansea still pressing.

Incidentally, Swansea are already more of a force with Jefferson Montero. The Ecuadorian looks to be getting plenty of joy out of right-back Reveillere in this half.

Promising attack from Sunderland now - their first of the half - as Patrick van Aanholt whips in a cross for Danny Graham, but Williams is well across to snuff out his former teammate.

SUNDERLAND SUB: Ricky Alvarez makes way for Adam Johnson, who was left out because he has only trained once this week. With four goals this season, he's not a bad sub to bring on, is he?

And we're back on level terms, and what a brilliant ball from Kyle Naughton. The former Spurs man whips in a fantastic cross, and Ki sneaks in between Vergini and O'Shea to head home from close range. Game on.

BOOKING: 2-2 in the yellow card stakes now as Seb Larsson goes into the book for a cynical handball after Ki made a mug of him. Right decision.

Roughly 18 minutes of normal time left now and will we see a winner? If we do it'll be from Swansea. Garry Monk's side doing all the pressing, but lest we forget how Sunderland's opener came about! We can't rule out the Black Cats, despite how much they're being dominated here.

SUNDERLAND SUB: Another Sunderland sub now as Danny Graham makes way for Steven Fletcher. Graham, who helped fire Swansea into the Premier League, is applauded by both sets of fans. Nice touch.

BOOKING: Sunderland move 3-2 ahead in terms of yellow cards, with Jordi Gomez the latest entry into Phil Dowd's little black book.

SWANSEA SUB: Shelvey is now applauded by Swansea fans for his effort as he makes way for Nelson Oliveira. Good performance from him, but he's not Sigurdsson.

Right we're into the final 10 minutes here and Swansea still toiling in the final third in their bid for a late winner. Sunderland, with 11 players in their own half, are settling for a point I think.

I don't want to tempt fate here my friends, but it looks like we're heading for a point apiece. Swansea look like they've run out of ideas.

SAVE! Huge from Costel Pantilimon, who hasn't had much to do in this half, but he palms away Nelson Oliveira's shot just then. Good save.

That's it! Sunderland hang on to earn a brilliant point, despite Ki's equaliser on 67 minutes. Fair play to them. It wasn't pretty, but it was effective. Anywho, that's all we've got time for this afternoon folks. Thanks for joining me and we'll see you next time I'm sure.