Sunderland vs West Brom preview: Team news, last meeting, recent form, referee and how to watch
Sunderland will look to continue their fine form when West Brom are the visitors to the Stadium of Light on Monday evening.
Sunderland currently sit in 10th spot, while the visitors sit in 21st place and out of the relegation zone on goal difference.
After the recent wins over Birmingham and Millwall, the lads have moved seven points clear from the relegation battle and one point adrift of the play-offs.
When: Monday 12 December, 8PM
Where: Stadium of Light
TV: Sky Sports
Team news
Ross Stewart will be in the squad for Monday night's game after three months out and could feature to gain some vital minutes in his return.
Dan Ballard is back in full training, although this game may be too soon for him. Niall Huggins will also be pushing to start after missing the win over Millwall last week.
Luke O'Nien and Alex Pritchard missed training on Thursday and will be assessed ahead of the game.
Edouard Michut continues to struggle with a leg injury, although could be back in contention for the game next weekend.
Bailey Wright and Jewison Bennette are back from World Cup duties and both will be pushing to return in the starting XI.
Semi Ajayi and Daryl Dike should be available for West Brom after returning to training.
Grady Diangana missed the Baggies warm weather camp in Spain, but will likely be involved in this game.
Last Meeting
The two teams last met in the Premier League in January 2017, as the Hawthorns prevailed 2-0 over the Black Cats.
Sunderland team: Mannone, Denayer, Djilobodji, Jones, O’Shea, Van Aanholt, Larsson, Rodwell, Honeyman, Januzaj, Defoe
Recent Form
Sunderland: DWLWW
West Brom: LLWWW
Head-to-Head (Last 10 matches)
Sunderland wins: 1
Draws: 4
West Brom wins: 5
Referee
James Linington will take charge of this match and has refereed 39 matches over the last 12 months and issued 124 yellow cards.
Linington last took charge of a Sunderland match when they played Luton away, as both teams cancelled each other out in a 1-1 draw. The Sunderland goal being scored by Elliot Embleton.
He will be assisted by Daniel Leach and Mark Stevens, with Tom Nield acting as the fourth official.
What the managers have said
Tony Mowbray faces another former employer in the Baggies, as he looks to steer his side to a third win in a row.
Mowbray said: "Now that Carlos [Corberan] is in the charge, I think the new manager is starting to put his identity on the club.
"I've been watching them, they are on a good run. They actually got beat in a friendly this week against Elche FC.
"The personnel are different, but they do have different rotations in their team now, similar to what Huddersfield did. I think they have got very good players.
"At Blackburn Rovers, Jed Wallace was somebody that I tried to sign and he ended up at West Brom. Jon Swift was probably the best attacking midfielder at Reading and yet they both went on free transfers. They are really good footballers.
"They've got a really good squad of experienced footballers. We're expecting a really tough game, a team with an identity of how they want to play, move the ball.
"They'll give us some problems on the day I'm sure, but I'm sure we'll give them problems as well. Hopefully we can find a way, with the support of the crowd, to come out on top."
Carlos Corberan believes his side will face a tough task against a Sunderland side who will be full of confidence.
Corberan said: "Sunderland will try to use their momentum from last weekend when they returned to action and won in front of their own fans to help them on Monday night.
"We want to try and use our advantage of having more time on the training pitch and being able to develop our players.
"Sunderland have kept their base of their team which helped them win promotion from League One last season.
"A lot of their players who start in the XI were in their XI last season when they achieved a big target which of course was promotion.
"Now with the new coach they have tried to add more attacking situations which make them very dangerous.
"I know that their performance will demand that we are at our very best on Monday night".