Sunderland vs Stoke Preview

We preview Sunderland's game against Stoke at the Stadium of Light.

General news:
• Sunderland have won just one game in the last six, drawn three and lost two (six points).
• League form guide: D L D L W D.
• Phil Bardsley is available on Saturday despite picking up his fifth booking of the season on Sunday. He'll serve a one-match suspension against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on February 21.
• Dean Whitehead remains on four yellow cards, meanwhile, and will get a one-game ban if they reach five before the end of February.

Injury latest:
• Teemu Tainio is hoping to be fit after he missed the derby at Newcastle and Wednesday night's trip to Blackburn with a knee injury.
• Paul McShane remains unavailable with a hamstring injury.
• Nyron Nosworthy faces another 2-3 weeks on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.
• Darren Ward is back in training after recovering from a back injury, while Jean-Yves M'voto continues rehabilitation from an ankle operation.
• David Connolly (groin operation) and Russell Anderson (knee) are also in long-term rehab.

International round-up:
• George McCartney and David Healy have been called up by Northern Ireland for their World Cup qualifier against San Marino, away, next Wednesday.
• Paul McShane has been called up by the Republic of Ireland for their World Cup qualifier against Georgia at Croke Park on Wednesday.
• New signing Tal Ben-Haim has been called up by Israel for a friendly against Hungary in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, when he'll face Sunderland goalkeeper Marton Fulop.
• Teemu Tainio has been called up by Finland for a game against Portugal on Wednesday.
• Dwight Yorke, Carlos Edwards and Kenwyne Jones have all been called up by Trinidad and Tobago for a crucial World Cup qualifier against El Salvador on Tuesday.
• David Meyler has been called up by the Republic of Ireland Under-21s for a friendly against Germany in Cork on Tuesday.
• Trevor Carson and Robbie Weir have been called up by Northern Ireland Under-21s for their game against Wales in Ballymena on Tuesday.
• Niall McArdle has been called up by the Republic of Ireland Under-19s for two friendly games against Russia, in Russia, on Tuesday and Thursday.
• Martyn Waghorn has been called up by England Under-19s for a friendly against Spain on Tuesday.

The opposition:
• Rory Delap begins a three-match ban on Saturday after his sending off in Stoke's 1-0 win at home to Manchester City last weekend.
• Another former Sunderland player meanwhile, defender Danny Higginbotham, is hoping to return to the Stadium of Light after he missed the City match with a calf injury.
• Senegal midfielder Salif Diao continues to struggle with a calf injury, he hasn't played since early December, while defender Leon Cort (groin) and Malian striker Mamady Sidibie (knee) are doubtful for the weekend.
• Stoke climbed out of the relegation zone with their crucial win against City last Saturday, thanks to new signing James Beattie's first-half goal.
• The victory ended a nine-match winless run which has seen Stoke tumble down the Premier League table.
• After a 1-0 win at home to West Brom in November, the Potters were 13th in the table with 17 points - but they won just four points from their next nine games, losing five (scoring five goals and conceding 14) which saw them fall to 19th in the table, before their victory last weekend dragged them up to 17th and a point above the drop zone.
• Stoke have the worst away record in the Premier League - they're yet to win on their travels and have drawn three games (Liverpool, Wigan and Newcastle), losing nine (Bolton, Middlesbrough, Portsmouth, Man City, Man United, Blackburn, West Ham, Chelsea and Tottenham), scoring eight goals and conceding 27 (the most in the league).
• League form guide: L L D L L W
• Tony Pulis signed Wigan's Senegalese striker Henri Camara on loan for the rest of the season on transfer window deadline day. The Stoke boss had already splashed out £2m on West Ham midfielder Matthew Etherington and £3.5m on Sheffield United striker James Beattie earlier in the January transfer window.
• Pulis spent around £20m on 10 new players last summer: Seyi George Olofinjana (Wolves, £3m), Thomas Sorensen (unattached), Dave Kitson (Reading, £5.5m), Abdoulaye Faye (Newcastle, £2.25m), Amdy Faye (Charlton, undisclosed), Andrew Davies (Southampton, £1.3m), Ibrahima Sonko (Reading, £2m), Danny Higginbotham (S'land, undisclosed), Tom Soares (Crystal Palace, £1.25m), Michael Tonge (Sheffield Utd, £2m).
• Stoke won promotion from the Championship last season, runners-up to West Brom, with 79 points from 21 wins, 16 draws and nine defeats (the least number of defeats in the division).

Match officials:
• The referee on Saturday is Rob Styles from Hampshire, who took charge of Sunderland's 2-1 defeat at home to Blackburn in the Carling Cup earlier this season, as well as their 1-1 league draw at Wigan and their 3-0 defeat at Everton. Mr Styles has so far issued 22 yellow cards and five reds in 22 games this season.
• His assistants are Mick Murphy and Adam Watts, and the fourth official is Colin Webster.

Boylesports odds:
• Sunderland are 4/5 favourites on Saturday, while Boylesports have priced Stoke 7/2 and the draw at 5/2.
• First scorer (S'land): Jones 5/1, Cisse 5/1, Healy 13/2, Murphy 8/1, Richardson 11/1, Malbranque 14/1, Reid 14/1, Leadbitter 18/1, Edwards 18/1.
• First scorer (Stoke): Fuller 15/2, Beattie 15/2, Camara 8/1, Kitson 10/1, Cresswell 12/1, Lawrence 16/1, Etherington 18/1, Olofinjana 20/1.
• For more odds go to www.boylesportssafc.com

Stoke to Sunderland:
• It's 187 miles from the Britannia Stadium to the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland-Stoke, head-to-head:
• Stoke beat Sunderland 1-0 at the Britannia Stadium earlier this season thanks to Ricardo Fuller's 73rd-minute header from a Rory Delap throw-in.
• The two sides drew 2-2 in their last meeting at the Stadium of Light. Darel Russell put Stoke 1-0 ahead before Dean Whitehead equalised. Carl Hoefkens then put the visitors 2-1 up but Daryl Murphy scored a 90th-minute leveller.
• Sunderland's last win at home to Stoke was in May 2005, when Sunderland had already been crowned Championship title-winners. Mick McCarthy's champions celebrated with a 1-0 victory, thanks to a Carl Robinson goal.
• Stoke's last win at Sunderland was a 1-0 victory at Roker Park on April 16, 1994, when Mark Walters scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory.
• Sunderland have won 38 of the previous 60 league games between the two on Wearside, while Stoke have won seven games and there have been 15 draws.
SAFC wins Draws Stoke wins
League 56 28 37
FA Cup 2 5 2
League Cup 0 0 2
Total 58 33 41


The last 10 meetings:
• Stoke 1, Sunderland 0 (Premier League) 29.10.08
• Sunderland 2, Stoke 2 (Championship) 13.3.07
• Stoke 2, Sunderland 1 (Championship) 17.10.06
• Sunderland 1, Stoke 0 (Championship) 8.5.05
• Stoke 0, Sunderland 1 (Championship) 27.11.04
• Sunderland 1, Stoke 1 (Championship) 16.3.04
• Stoke 3, Sunderland 1 (Championship) 16.9.03
• Sunderland 3, Stoke 0 (Championship) 25.4.98
• Stoke 1, Sunderland 2 (Championship) 25.10.97
• Sunderland 0, Stoke 0 (Championship) 21.4.96

i think sunderland sure win in tonight vs stoke matches.Sure cisse will score.

thanks for the well wish yes we need the 6 pointer and Cisse and Jones partnership is the best since Phillips and Quinn

YESSSSSSSSSSS

WE WON 2-0 nice job lads

This post has been edited by booooster: Feb 8 2009, 01:29 AM

i thought 2-0??healy score another??

oh ya jus saw thx bro ya 2-0 healy assisted by jones

i just notice that Diouf had transferd to blackburn,
what the story behind that?

he threatened to stab Anton Ferdidand

aiks, both also black. why lar like this. jkjk. Good thing to see Sunderland are back on track. Sunderland are full of talents now, I don't think there's relegation issue gonna happen here.

lol we picked up 5 more points den chelsea over the last 2 wks

seriously
but its ok..still got plenty more striker
glad to see jones stay..

This post has been edited by jembalang: Feb 8 2009, 11:29 PM

yes n I hope we got repectable position finish

so can sign cisse

definitely
let us hope that cisse will stay..

hey nice sunderland jersey
where did u buy it?

lol thanks bro haha got from al-ikhsan in sungei wang

check out the jerseys thread

for their locations and ring dem to see if have

mine is actually last season's one, this season got extra black stripes down the side

lol u sunderland fan too?

i started to support sunderland when roy keane appoint as the black cat manager, plus last season he manage to get many best player like stead malbranque + many of his spurs comrate, cisse, gordan...
although now sunderland is under Ricky Sbragia, but still sunderland dekat dihati..haha

p/s i even play sunderland in FM, but cannot tahanlaa, transfer budget vr low

haha u shud PM me leh

I can recommend players for u

I came out 7th in first season

wah! taikox2
i haven't finish playing yet..mls edi..

lol haha

contacted al-ikhsan bout yr jersey?

if not I can find out for u bro?

http://www.safc.com/match/?page_id=16820&fixture=3004691&t=2

Full Time Report on Game against Stoke

Relief could be felt all around the Stadium of Light as David Healy grabbed an injury-time goal, his second in as many games, to lift Sunderland up to eleventh in the Barclays Premier League tonight.

Healy's 94th-minute strike, three days after his goal at Blackburn in Sunderland's FA Cup fourth round replay defeat at Ewood Park, made sure of the spoils against a ten-man Stoke side after Kenwyne Jones had grabbed a crucial goal 12 minutes from time.

Jones, who scored three goals in 13 games for Stoke during a loan spell with them four years ago, did well to head past ex-Sunderland goalkeeper Tommy Sorensen, from Andy Reid's pin-point cross, in the 78th minute.

It was a crucial deadlock-breaker for Ricky Sbragia after the home side were, in the main, contained and frustrated by their visitors in front of a healthy 38,350 crowd as both sides struggled to create many clear-cut chances.

Sunderland almost had the ball in the net six minutes before half-time when substitute Danny Pugh appeared to "save" Steed Malbranque's header with his hands - the subsequent penalty appeals were ignored by Rob Styles.

The 39th-minute incident brightened up an otherwise dull but tense first half as goalscoring opportunities were few and far between.

Sorensen did have to make a save as early as the sixth minute when Jones hit a powerful effort from 20 yards - the City 'keeper could only parry the shot to Reid, who sliced the rebound well over.

Stoke had a half-chance in the tenth minute when Richard Creswell's attempted over-head kick was just wide after a goalmouth scramble in the Sunderland penalty area.

Tony Pulis was dealt three major problems in the space of eight first-half minutes, making all three changes due to injuries - Andy Wilkinson was replaced by Pugh in the 18th minute and Ryan Shawcross had to make way for Ibrahima Sonko, before Ricardo Fuller was forced off with a cringe-worthy shoulder injury in the 26th minute, being replaced by new signing Henri Camara.

It certainly didn't seem to help Stoke and even though Camara, signed on loan from Wigan on transfer window deadline day, had two decent chances before the break, Sunderland gained from City's treble blow.

Stoke continued to frustrate, though, and even after Matthew Etherington was sent off in the 64th minute, following a clash with Danny Collins who was subsequently shown a yellow card, Sunderland still failed to capitalise.

Indeed, it was Stoke who should have taken the lead after 67 minutes when Sunderland struggled to clear inside the area and the loose ball fell to Camara, who crashed his shot against the crossbar.

It was a big let-off for the home side, and perhaps the kick up the backside they needed, as they clicked into gear.

Just moments later, George McCartney's left-wing cross found Cisse at the far past and the Frenchman hit a powerful shot across the face of goal but wide, and two minutes later Carlos Edwards almost scored with an identical effort, this time Reid the provider.

Sunderland then found the net after 78 minutes when schemer Reid chipped to the far post for Jones, who out jumped Abdoulaye Faye to head down to the near post, where Sorensen could only help the ball in.

It was a nail-biting final 10 minutes for Sunderland, made worse by four minutes added time, but with almost the last kick of the game Healy grabbed a relieving second goal to complete a valuable win.

This post has been edited by booooster: Feb 10 2009, 03:16 PM

Sunderland have announced that a smartcard access system will be installed at the Stadium of Light for the start of the 2009-10 season.

The new system is being developed by market-leaders Fortress GB Limited. With a vast amount of experience in the market, Fortress' football customers include Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Aston Villa as well as both Inter and AC Milan.

Easy to use credit card-style smartcards will replace the traditional paper season ticket and electronic card readers will be installed on all turnstiles. The new system will make entry to the stadium quick and easy and will also offer enhanced security to both the Club and supporters.

A trial group of season ticket holders will be the first to try out the new system at the Stadium of Light in the coming months. Card readers will be installed next to selected turnstiles for a period commencing from the Hull City fixture in April.
Following this trial, readers will be fitted to all 74 turnstiles over the summer, ready for the start of the new season.

The new system will make entry into the stadium quicker and easier with turnstiles being activated simply by placing a smartcard against the electronic reader. Once validated, supporters simply push the turnstile and proceed as normal. The hand over of traditional vouchers for each match is no longer required.

The system will also provide enhanced security as when a smartcard is used a coloured light illuminates to show stadium staff whether an adult or concession ticket has been purchased and the card holder automatically breaks an invisible light beam as they enter the turnstile to prove the card has been used.

The card will also enable season ticket holders to buy tickets for cup-ties at the Stadium of Light, as it can be remotely activated when a supporter books a match either online, by phone or in person at the ticket office.

Marketing and Commercial Director Lesley Callaghan said: "Our aim is to improve the match day experience for all supporters and make entry to the stadium as quick and easy as possible as well as improving security for all.

"In the long run, the new smartcard system may allow us to introduce further benefits for loyal supporters, but we are confident that season ticket holders will find their smartcard a big step forward from the outset."

For 2009-10, non-season ticket holders will continue to be issued with paper tickets, bearing a barcode to allow entry to the stadium when presented to the card readers at turnstiles