Stoke City boss Alex Neil facing injury crisis ahead of Sunderland reunion
Sunderland head to Stoke City in the Championship after this month's international break.
Sunderland go up against former boss Alex Neil later this month.
His Stoke City side are struggling in the league, having lost seven of their opening 11 league games of the season to find themselves in 21st place of the table.
Sunderland meanwhile are up in 4th. Despite the Black Cats losing 4-0 against Middlesbrough last time out, it's been a good season so far for Tony Mowbray's side who've already put 19 points on the board.
And Mowbray may well be expecting another three points when his side head to the bet365 Stadium in little under two weeks.
Not only are the Potters in poor form, but Neil is already facing an injury crisis within the side; club captain Ben Wilmot has just been ruled out for up to three months with a knee injury, and he joins a number of names already on the sidelines.
In total, Stoke now have eight players who look set to miss the Sunderland game; Wilmot, Lewis Baker, Enda Stevens, Michael Rose, Emre Tezgel, Ryan Mmaee, Tyrese Campbell, and former Sunderland man Lynden Gooch.
Sunderland vs Stoke City...
Sunderland will certainly be the favourites for this one.
Despite them being the away side, they're in much better form than Neil's Stoke, and they could yet have a couple of players back after the break too.
Neil may well know some of these Sunderland players and their potential weaknesses, which could give him an edge when the two teams meet.
But given recent form and the state of Stoke's injury list, the Potters will know that Sunderland will be a very tough outing for them.
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