Sunderland Preview

By Mark Heys
December 27 2007

After the disappointing defeat to Everton on Boxing Day the Wanderers must now pick themselves up for an important clash against struggling Sunderland at the Stadium of Light this weekend in what will be the clubs final game of 2007.

Bolton have not claimed maximum points in an away league game since they defeated local rivals Wigan Athletic over the Easter games last season and manager Gary Megson is keen for that barren spell to end.

Sunderland have lost four out of their last six matches and their home form is considered to be inconsistent with three wins, three draws and three defeats from the matches on Wearside this season.

In the four meetings since the Black Cats moved to their current home ten years ago there has been a win for Bolton, two wins for Sunderland and a goalless draw almost two years to the day.

If Bolton win they could put further distance between themselves and the bottom three but if Sunderland take the points then that will mean the Trotters are once again looking over their shoulders.

Megson has a doubt over goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen after the Finnish international picked up a hand injury in the game at Everton so understudy Ali Al-Habsi is preparing for his first Premier League appearance.

Jaaskelainen, once a target of Sunderland before they signed Craig Gordon, seldom misses a league game for Bolton. In fact it is nearly three years since the long serving Scandanavian sat out a top flight game.

Better news for Bolton is that defender Joey O'Brien made a return to action as a late substitute in the game at Goodison Park and he is once again set to be involved.

Former Black Cats midfielder Gavin McCann will line up for Bolton against the club he represented for four years prior to moving to Aston Villa in the summer of 2003.

Sunderland manager Roy Keane must decide whether to stick with teenager Martin Waghorn after the 17-year old made his debut in the defeat against Manchester United.

Keane has doubts over ankle injury victims Michael Chopra and Russell Anderson and Nyron Nosworthy (hamstring) and Carlos Edwards (broken leg) are expected to out of action once again.

One time England midfielder Kieran Richardson is fit to play however following a spell out of action with the back injury spondylytis throughout the current campaign.

Before the match the players will observe a minutes reflection in honour of the ex-Sunderland players who have died in the past year and this includes remembering the one time Bolton coach Ian Porterfield.

LAST TIME WE MET:

18/03/2006 BOLTON WANDERERS 2 (Davies, Nolan) SUNDERLAND 0

BOLTON: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Joey O'Brien, Tal Ben-Haim, Bruno N'Gotty, Ricardo Gardner, Kevin Nolan, Jay-Jay Okocha, Gary Speed, Stelios Giannakopoulos, Kevin Davies, Ricardo Vaz-Te

SUBS NOT USED: Hidetoshi Nakata, Ian Walker (GK)

SUNDERLAND: Kelvin Davis, Nyron Nosworthy, Danny Collins, Stephen Caldwell, Dan Smith (Gary Breen), Dean Whitehead, Tommy Miller, Grant Leadbitter (Daryl Murphy), Rory Delap, George McCartney, Kevin Kyle (Chris Brown)

SUBS NOT USED: Christian Basilla, Ben Alnwick (GK)

PLAYED FOR BOTH:

Sam Allardyce, Peter Barnes, John Bollands, Jimmy Davison, Andy Dibble, Robbie Elliott, Wayne Entwistle, Carsten Fredgaard, Darren Holloway, Charlie Hurley, Allan Johnston, Jason McAteer, Gavin McCann, Jim McDonagh, Barry Siddall, Alan Stubbs, Nicky Summerbee, Emerson Thome, Ray Train, Steve Whitworth, Frank Worthington

DID YOU KNOW:

Former Wanderers coach Ricky Sbragia is now back at Sunderland in a coaching capacity having left the Reebok Stadium in November.

Bolton tried to sign Sunderland manager Roy Keane from Manchester United in 2005 but the former Republic of Ireland midfielder chose a move to boyhood club Celtic instead.

The Wanderers have only one win on Wearside since Sunderland left Roker Park in 1997. This came in March 2003 when goals from Jay-Jay Okocha and Henrik Pedersen ruined Mick McCarthy's first game in charge of the Black Cats.