Luton Town will look to break into the top three in the Championship table on Saturday, when they travel to the Stadium of Light to take on Sunderland.
The Hatters occupy a strong position in the fight for playoff places thanks to three consecutive victories, while their hosts have quickly dropped to 12th spot in the midst of a tough run of form.
Match preview
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With 49 points on the board from their opening 32 league outings, Sunderland looked set to be heavily involved in the playoff fight towards the end of the Championship season, after only winning promotion back to England's second tier last term.
Tony Mowbray's side have quickly seen their hopes of back-to-back promotions dwindle though, with the Black Cats having dropped down to 12th place in recent weeks as a result of a poor run of form.
The Stadium of Light outfit have lost four of their last five outings in the Championship, firstly suffering back-to-back 2-1 defeats away at Rotherham United and Coventry City, before suffering a 5-1 thrashing at home to a Stoke City side led by former boss Alex Neil, who departed for the Potters earlier this season.
They would briefly arrest the slump with an impressive 1-0 victory away at Norwich City last weekend, thanks to Abdoullah Ba's early goal, before hosting second-placed Sheffield United last time out and going ahead through Edouard Michut, but Mowbray's men were unable to hold on for a result, eventually suffering another 2-1 loss as James McAtee and Tommy Doyle turned the game around with goals for the visitors.
Now sitting in mid-table with an eight-point gap to the top six and only nine games of the season left to play, the Black Cats will know that they must quickly put a run of victories together to stand a chance of staying in the fight until the final weeks of the season, but they certainly face another tough test this weekend.
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Saturday's visitors travel north as one of the league's form sides, having given their own promotion hopes a major boost in recent weeks with a five-game unbeaten run.
In that spell from late February, the Hatters have put four wins on the board, firstly triumphing away at Birmingham City before coming from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Millwall at Kenilworth Road thanks to second-half goals from Elijah Adebayo and Luke Berry.
Following that comeback, they now head into the weekend on the back of three straight 1-0 victories, including an impressive triumph away at second-placed Sheffield United last weekend thanks to Carlton Morris's second-half goal, before he again made the difference in their beating of Bristol City on home turf on Wednesday with an early finish.
Thanks to their eye-catching run in recent weeks, Rob Edwards's side now find themselves fourth in England's second tier, seven points clear of the chasing pack in the playoff race, seven points off Sheffield United in the top two and a single point behind Middlesbrough, and they will now look for a fourth straight league victory and an 18th of the season to further strengthen their position in the top six while also keeping them in contention for a top-two spot, albeit with an outside chance.
Team News
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Sunderland continue to deal with an unenviable injury list, as star forward Ross Stewart is sidelined for the remainder of the season, while Elliot Embleton, Corry Evans, Dennis Cirkin, Aji Alese and Amad Diallo are also confined to the treatment room.
Given the defensive absences, Luke O'Nien should again fill in on the left-hand side of a back four alongside Trai Hume, Danny Batth and Dan Ballard, with Edouard Michut and Dan Neil set to partner up at the base of the midfield.
Elsewhere, Joe Gelhardt will continue to lead the line in Stewart's absence, while Abdoullah Ba will fill in for the injured Amad Diallo alongside Patrick Roberts and Jack Clarke in the supporting trio behind the lone frontman.
Luton Town are also impacted by several injuries, with Pelly Ruddock-Mpanzu, Luke Freeman and Daniel Potts all sidelined, while advanced midfielder Jordan Clark will be subject to a late fitness test to determine whether he can feature from the outset.
Indeed, Edwards may opt to come into the game with an unchanged starting XI from their win over Bristol City, and Carlton Morris is bound to again lead the line after netting his 16th league goal of the season in that game.
With Clark unlikely to come back in from the start, Allan Campbell, Luke Berry and Marvelous Nakamba should all keep their places in midfield, while the back three of Gabriel Osho, Tom Lockyer and Amari'i Bell could again be fielded after seeing out a clean sheet.
Sunderland possible starting lineup:
Patterson; Hume, Batth, Ballard, O'Nien; Michut, Neil; Roberts, Ba, Clarke; Gelhardt
Luton Town possible starting lineup:
Horvath; Osho, Lockyer, Bell; Drameh, Nakamba, Campbell, Berry, Doughty; Adebayo, Morris
We say: Sunderland 0-2 Luton Town
Luton Town are full of momentum with their sights set on cracking the top three, while Sunderland are far from their best and low on confidence, and we envisage another victory for Edwards's side as a result.
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Top tip
Sam Varley
