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

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Tuesday 18th April, 2023

(9th) Sunderland v Huddersfield Town (19th)

Championship

Stadium of Light

Kick-Off: 19:45

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Tickets & Match Coverage

Tickets: Tickets are available via www.safc.com.

TV/Stream: Full live match coverage is available on Sky Sports (via the red button) and 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...

At 2.55pm on Saturday, the scenario was that we were four points off the play-off positions with five games remaining - tonight, we stand two points behind 6th placed Blackburn Rovers with four games remaining.

They might have a game-in-hand, but that fixture involves the visit of Burnley to Ewood Park and undoubtedly there are some twists and turns to come with six points separating Millwall in 5th down to Watford in 12th.

To add a sprinkle of optimism, we are the only team in the at group of eight sides who are unbeaten in the last five league games.

We also did two things we haven’t done for a while at the weekend. Firstly, it was our first win at the Stadium of Light since beating Reading on the 11th February and secondly, we came back from behind to win in the league for the first time since the visit of Blackburn Rovers to Wearside on Boxing Day.

Three points at home tonight against Huddersfield Town could also put us back into a play-off position for the first time since mid-February with only three left to play.

Photo by Michael Driver/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

This is Huddersfield Town’s fourth year down in the Championship and last season’s appearance in the play-offs has been an outlier after finishing 18th and 20th in the first two years. This time around they have turned to Neil Warnock, who left the club originally in 1995, to help the club survive the drop to League One.

So far, Neil Warnock has picked up more than a third of sum total of points the club have collected so far this season in just 11 games, where four wins and three draws has accumulated 15 points.

The impact of Warnock’s appointment now means Huddersfield are a point clear of Reading who currently occupy the last relegation place, but with five points separating Blackpool in second bottom up to the Terriers in 19th, there is still a job to do to confirm another season in the Championship.

Our last league meeting with Huddersfield Town at the Stadium of Light was also our last victory over tonight’s opposition on home soil when goals from Niall Quinn and Allan Johnston gave us a 2-0 win - a bit of that tonight would go down nicely.

Photo by John Early/Getty Images

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The betting...

The bookies fancy the Lads to claim all three points tonight with odds of 4/6, with Huddersfield priced at 4/1 and the draw is around 27/10.

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Head to head... at Sunderland

(All competitions)

• Sunderland wins: 25
• Draws: 12
• Huddersfield Town wins: 7
• Sunderland goals: 94
• Huddersfield Town goals: 49

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

Tuesday 23rd September, 2003

League Cup - 2nd Round

Sunderland 2-4 Huddersfield Town

[Kyle 25’, 90’ (Clark sent-off 55’) - Carss, 2’, Stead 20’, Holdsworth 54’, Booth 87’]

Sunderland: Ingham, Clark, Bjorklund (Williams), McCartney, James, Oster (Leadbitter), Whitley, Thornton, Butler, Proctor (Stewart), Kyle Substitutes not used: Poom, Babb

Huddersfield Town: Gray, Schofield, Scott, Fowler, Yates, Mirfin, Worthington, Holdsworth, Booth (Brown), Stead, Carss Substitutes not used: Senior, Booty, Mattis, Newby

Attendance: 13,516

Photo by Matthew Ashton - PA Images via Getty Images

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Played for both...

Tony Norman

The Welsh international goalkeeper made his name at Hull City where he made well over 400 appearances in eight years before Denis Smith brought him to Roker in a record-breaking deal that involved Bill Whitehurst moving in the opposite direction.

Norman spent seven years at Sunderland and provided many memories of his talents, especially some of those created during the run to the 1992 FA Cup final.

After leaving in 1995, Norman was picked up by Huddersfield Town where he spent two more years before retiring.

Photo by Mark Leech/Offside via Getty Images

Martin Smith

After coming through the ranks at Roker, Smith burst onto the scene on the 20th October 1993 when it took 19 minutes for the winger to score direct from a free-kick on his debut against Luton Town in front of the Fulwell End.

It wasn’t until 1999 when he left to sign for Sheffield United and after only a year at Bramall Lane, Smith made the move from South Yorkshire to West Yorkshire when he signed for Huddersfield Town.

Smith spent three years with the Terriers before spells with Northampton Town, Darlington and Blyth Spartans before hanging up his boots.

Photo by Paul Marriott/EMPICS via Getty Images

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