Match Preview: Sunderland v Fleetwood Town - all you need to know ahead of kick-off!

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Tuesday 8th March 2022

(7th) Sunderland v Fleetwood Town (19th)

Sky Bet League One

Stadium of Light

Kick-Off: 19:45

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Tickets & Match Coverage

Tickets: Tickets available via www.safc.com.

TV/Stream: Full live match coverage available via www.safc.com.

Radio: Full live match commentary available via BBC Radio Newcastle (not online)

Don’t forget to follow the blow-by-blow account of the game on the Roker Report Twitter feed (@RokerReport) and check out the player ratings after the full-time whistle at www.RokerReport.com!

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The build-up...

The rest of March should be interesting and could tell us more about the possibility of a late surge to cement our play-off credentials in the final phase of the season. We have four games in what is remaining of the month and three of those fixtures sees us take on opposition from the bottom seven in League One.

First up is Fleetwood Town tonight at the Stadium of Light, and after our home form was so impressive at the start of the season, we now find ourselves low on confidence on home soil as we search for a first victory at home since 22nd January against Portsmouth. Only one point has been collected of the last nine on offer and getting back to early season form in our own back yard would be a start to get our push for promotion back on track.

Following two fixtures on the road that saw many positives in how we looked more solid, it will be interesting to see how those improvements translate at home. Will we be more expansive going forward with the emphasis being on us to be on the front foot? Especially with what is likely to be a Fleetwood Town side who aren’t in the best form and may well park the bus as they look to spoil the party.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

After making the League One play-offs twice in the last six years, Fleetwood Town now find themselves in a fight for survival to avoid dropping back to League Two for the first time since they were promoted back in 2013-14.

Simon Grayson was relieved of his duties as manager of Fleetwood back in late-November and after a month as caretaker, Stephen Crainey was appointed as the permanent new manager just before Christmas with a contract until the end of the season.

The former Scottish international played for Fleetwood in their first season in the third tier back in 2014-15 and returned to the club coaching in the academy before getting the promotion to manager this season.

But it hasn’t quite gone to plan since the appointment on a permanent basis with only two victories in the twelve fixtures since the announcement, with no win in five away from home with their last win on the road coming back on the 8th January.

Photo by James Baylis - AMA/Getty Images

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League One Form...

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Sunderland Home Form...

Fleetwood Town Away Form...

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The betting...

The bookies have The Lads as clear favourites at 4/7 to take maximum points, with Fleetwood priced at a long 9/2 and the draw at 29/10.

A 1-0 win for The Lads is the shortest odds with the bookmakers at 11/2, with a 1-1 draw close behind at 13/2, followed by a more convincing 2-0 Sunderland win at 6/1. Fleetwood are 14/1 to take the win via the only goal of the game.

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Head to head...

(Home and away in all competitions)

• Sunderland wins: 1
• Draws: 5
• Fleetwood Town wins: 2
• Sunderland goals: 10
• Fleetwood Town goals: 10

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Last time we met... at The Stadium of Light

Tuesday 23rd February 2021

Sky Bet League One

Sunderland 2-0 Fleetwood Town

[O’Brien 61’, Power 82’]

Sunderland: Burge, McLaughlin, Sanderson, O’Nien, Gooch (Winchester), Leadbitter, Power, McFadzean, McGeady (Jones), O’Brien (Maguire), Wyke Substitutes not used: Mathews, Vokins, Younger, Diamond

Fleetwood Town: Cairns, Donacien, Andrew, Hill, Conolly, Holgate (Morris), Batty (Camps), Rossiter, Vassell, Saunders (Burns), Duffy (Biggins) Substitutes not used: Coleman, Rydel, Morris

Photo by Mark Fletcher/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

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Played for both...

Ross Wallace

Wallace moved south from Celtic in a deal that also included the return of Stanislav Varga to Sunderland for a combined fee of around £1.1 million in August 2006.

The then 21-year-old helped Sunderland to promotion to the Premier League in his first season at the club and stayed on Wearside until 2009 after making 55 appearances and scoring 8 goals.

After spells with Preston North End, Burnley and Sheffield Wednesday, he made 39 appearances at Fleetwood Town in 2018-19.

Photo by Richard Martin-Roberts - CameraSport via Getty Images

Conor McLaughlin

Defender McLaughlin spent five years at Fleetwood between 2012-2017 before leaving to join Millwall after making 172 appearances for the Cod Army.

Joined Sunderland on a free transfer in July 2019 and went on to make 50 appearances before he was release last year, going on to re-sign for Fleetwood for a second spell before being released back in January.

Photo by Pete Norton/Getty Images

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