Rotherham United vs Sunderland preview: How to watch, team news, recent form and referee

All you need to know ahead of the Championship game between Rotherham United and Sunderland.

Author:
Will Jeffries
Publish date:
Feb 20, 2023 9:08 PM EST

Sunderland face back-to-back away games starting with Rotherham United on Tuesday evening, as they look to build on their five game unbeaten run in the Championship.

Over 2,200 supporters are making the trip down to South Yorkshire to hopefully cheer the Black Cats on to victory.

Last time out, Sunderland were held to a 1-1 draw against Bristol City at the Stadium of Light, while Rotherham United lost 2-0 at home to Coventry City.

How to Watch

When: Tuesday 21st February, 2023 - Kick off: 7:45pm
Where: New York Stadium, Rotherham
TV: SAFC Live
Radio: BBC Radio Newcastle

The game is being live-streamed on SAFC in the UK, while BBC Radio Newcastle are doing full live commentary as well.

Team News

Ben Wiles (ankle), and Sean Morrison (thigh) will both be missing for Rotherham United through injury with the latter out for the rest of the season.

Cameron Humphreys is one game away from suspension, which limits Matt Taylor's options in defence, while Bailey Wright is ineligible to play against his parent club.

Niall Huggins is training again with Sunderland but is still one week away from a return to the first team fold, while Lynden Gooch is still a few weeks away from a return.

Tony Mowbray said his side have a "couple of knocks" which they will assess ahead of kick-off, but Jewison Bennette will be back amongst the match day squad after recovering from a calf injury.

Last Meeting

The two teams last met at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday 31st August 2022, where the Black Cats ran out 3-0 winners with Ross Stewart scoring a brace and Jack Clarke sealing it with the third.

Sunderland team: Patterson, O'Nien, Batth, Cirkin, Gooch, Neil, Evans, Clarke, Pritchard, Simms, Stewart

Recent Form

Rotherham United: DDDLL
Sunderland: WDWWD

Head-to-head (last 10 matches)

Rotherham United wins: 1
Draws: 3
Sunderland wins: 6

Who is the referee for Rotherham vs Sunderland?

Chris Kavanagh will take charge of this match and has refereed 22 matches over the last 12 months, issuing 36 yellow cards in them.

He will be assisted by Edward Smart and James Mainwaring, with Scott Oldham acting as the fourth official.

What the Managers have said

Matt Taylor will be hoping his side can bounce back after losing their last five games, but he is aware of Sunderland who are currently one of the in-form sides.

Taylor said: "They're a fantastic side. They've invested well and recruited well and got some good players for the level.

"They have a couple of loans in there as well who have certainly improved them.

"We're at home and we have to make the running. We have to put them under pressure. We know their style and what they'll want to do when they come to our pitch. We have to make it 'our pitch' like we did for the first half on Saturday.

"We put a good team (Coventry) on the back foot. We just couldn't quite break through them. We have to try and do the same to Sunderland.

"It feels off the end of the last game and on the back of two losses that we could be in such a different position because the last six or seven games the performance levels have greatly improved from where they were, but we always want a point return.

"We have to believe we can compete and show that. We have to be at our best if we're going to take anything from any game at any level.

"We have to make sure we're fully charged and not only energised, but executing our game plan and our quality moments.

"The fine margins that any games comes down to are just costing us at the moment at both ends of the pitch, but generally, from box-to-box, we're structurally pretty good at the moment".

Tony Mowbray will to continue to ring the changes as his sides crammed schedule is starting to take it's toll on the squad.

Mowbray said: "We're trying to get the balance right.

"We've made three changes in the last couple of games, and there'll probably be another three changes for Rotherham.

"There might be for the weekend again, but then after that, we've got a week of going Saturday to Saturday where hopefully we can recover a bit.

"There will be changes in the defence. Hopefully, that doesn't weaken us, other than maybe the consistency aspect, particularly when you're talking about defenders.

"The understanding builds up within a defence, you get to know each other's strengths and weaknesses, so when you start tinkering with that, there can be a bit of uncertainty about what somebody's going to do when the ball goes into a certain area.

"That's probably why there's sometimes a bit of resistance about changing the backline if it's doing well, but then sometimes you just have to accept that a change or two is required.

"To beat Blackburn Rovers 4-0 recently is a good and we have to be mindful of that.

"We went to Rotherham last year and lost 5-1! We'll see how it goes but we want to go there and hopefully dominate."

Sunderland predicted line-up vs Rotherham

With changes expected, it will likely mean a return for Dennis Cirkin and Alex Pritchard to the starting line-up.

Luke O'Nien is an option as well in any one of a number of positions.

Amad Diallo may once again be rested and saved for the later stages when the game may have opened up a little.

Sunderland predicted line-up (4-2-3-1): Patterson; Hume, Ballard, Batth, Cirkin; Neil, Michut; Roberts, Pritchard, Clarke; Gelhardt