Manager: Howard Wilkinson

Current position: 19th.

Last time out: Sunderland 0 West Ham 1 (Sinclair)

How they lined up: Macho, Wright, Gray, Reyna, Babb, Craddock, Piper, McCann, Kilbane, Phillips, Stewart.

Injury update: Goalkeeper Thomas Myhre faces a fitness test after being out with a hip problem and illness. He had been deputising for long term casualty Thomas Sorensen but if he is ruled out tonight then Jurgen Macho will continue.

Former Wanderers favourite Jason McAteer also misses the date against his old club having recently undergone a hernia operation

Form guide: Sunderland fans are impatiently waiting for the about-turn in form usually brought about by a change of manager.

The home defeat by then bottom club West Ham was particularly disappointing for all concerned although Wilkinson pointed to a number of chances the side created and were unlucky not to convert.

Even so, the first win for the manager and new coach Steve Cottrill cannot come soon enough and the chance to put more points and some distance between themselves and current bottom club Wanderers is one they are desperate to take.

In view of that, the match is still a relegation six-pointer - even in October.

Match odds (supplied by Coral): Wanderers 6-5, Sunderland 7-4. draw 9-4.