Sunderland boss expecting 'one or two changes' to his side for Bristol City clash

Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray is expecting a to make a couple of changes to his side for the visit of Bristol City this weekend.

The Black Cats are caught amid a hectic schedule at the moment, promoting Mowbray to rotate his squad a little. He made three changes for the midweek win at QPR, with Dan Neil, Edouard Michut and Amad Diallo dropping out of the starting line-up.

He will again assess the fitness of his squad at the end of this week before picking his side, but he says small changes are definitely likely against the in-form Robins.

"There'll probably be one or two [changes] but there won't be wholesale changes," Mowbray said.

"I'm mindful of the fact I'd like to get back to Saturday to Saturday then you can manage wellbeing throughout the week.

"There are a few knocks, there are a few who don't feel they should train, we're just trying to manage them through.

"Tomorrow I'll assess who feels they can train, who is flashing amber lights - then see if we can get the balance right. The good thing for me is we have some flexible footballers. We have to get the balance right."

Two players who definitely won’t be involved are full-backs Lynden Gooch and Niall Huggins. Gooch is yet to recover from a hip injury, while Huggins continue to attempt to work his way back to full fitness after a series of problems.

Neither is a serious concern and Huggins is closer to Gooch, but Mowbray is understandably opting to err on the side of caution with the former Leeds man.

"Niall has been back on the grass with his boots on, but we'll be easing him back in," said Mowbray.

"I saw Lynden today, he has a nice new haircut! He'll be ready when he's ready. It was always going to be another couple of weeks in my mind.

“I always judge when I see them back with their boots on. He's still on a massage bed in the treatment room but fingers crossed it won't be too long. It's not a long-term injury, it will be another couple of weeks I think."

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