Phil Parkinson made one change to the Sunderland side that lost at Coventry City last weekend, with Charlie Wyke missing out with a back problem.
That meant January signing Kyle Lafferty was handed his first start up front, with the Northern Ireland international coming in as a straight swap for Wyke.
Duncan Watmore had been a regular on the bench until he missed the Coventry game with a bruised heel, but he was back amongst the substitutes today and filled the gap left by Lafferty.
Gillingham boss Steve Evans made three changes to the side that saw Gillingham’s 15-game unbeaten run in the league brought to an end by AFC Wimbledon last weekend.
Jordan Roberts, Jordan Graham, and former Sunderland youngster Mikael Mandron came into the side in place of John Akinde, Olly Lee, and Tommy O’Connor.
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Today's line-ups
Sunderland: J McLaughlin, Willis, Ozturk, Flanagan, O’Nien, Dobson, Power, Hume, Maguire, Lafferty, Gooch
Subs: Burge, McLaughlin, Lynch, Scowen, Grigg, Watmore, Semenyo
Gillingham: Bonham, Fuller, Ehmer, Ogilvie, Tucker, Jones, O’Keefe, Roberts, Graham, Hanlan, Mandron.
Subs: Walsh, O’Connor, Pringle, Lee, Charles-Cook, Akinde, Willock.
