Previewing Sunderland v Gillingham

Sunderland will look to make it 3 home wins in a row on Saturday as they host 19th placed Gillingham at the Stadium of Light.

Previously

The sides met back in October, with Sunderland coming out as 2-1 winners, but things have changed for both sides in the months following the result at Priestfield.

Gillingham have replaced their manager that day, Steve Evans, with former Cardiff and Millwall manager Neil Harris taking over the Kent club when they were 23rd in the table.

Their scorer that day was Danny Lloyd, who scored an early penalty. He has since injured his knee and will miss the rest of the season.

Sunderland have also replaced their Head Coach from the previous game, with Alex Neil taking over from Lee Johnson in charge for the black cats.

Both of Sunderland's scorers, Aiden O'Brien and Tom Flanagan, left the club in January, joining Portsmouth and Shrewsbury Town respectively.

Both sides have improved their recent form

Gillingham have taken 7 points from their last five games (WDLWL). This is a run which has seen them jump from 23rd to 19th, taking them 4 points clear of the drop zone. Gill's fans will be looking for dangermen Vadaine Oliver and Charlie Kelman to spoil the day on Wearside.

Sunderland have taken 11 points from their last five games (DWWDW). Alex Neil has somewhat boosted morale on Wearside after a run of 7 games without a win left many fans worrying about what the future may hold. Sunderland will look to Patrick Roberts and Jack Clarke to provide the spark; the wingers have both, seemingly, hit form at the right time in order to help Sunderland stay in contention for a play off spot

From the dugouts

Speaking to the press on Friday morning, Alex Neil admitted that Sunderland's attacking options could be bolstered with Alex Pritchard and Nathan Broadhead making strides to a return from injury.

"Alex and Nathan have been making really good progress this week."

Neil Harris admitted that whilst his side are not safe yet, he is excited at the prospect of the challenge that Saturday's game poses.

"We have achieved nothing yet.

"More and more fans are starting to travel, Saturday is a game I am looking forward to"

Predicted Lineups:

Sunderland: Patterson; Cirkin, Wright, Doyle, Winchester; O;Nien, Evans, Matete; Clarke, Stewart, Roberts

Gillingham: Chapman; Masterson, Ehmer, Tucker; Tutonda, Phillips, Thompson, Lee, Jackson; Oliver, Kelman