Tony Mowbray named an unchanged side for the final game of the season at Preston North End, sticking with the same starting XI that began Sunderland's 2-2 draw against Watford at the Stadium of Light last weekend. That meant Pierre Ekwah was again preferred to on-loan Paris St-Germain midfielder Edouard Michut in midfield, with Mowbray conscious of the extra height and physicality that Ekwah brings to the team.
Sunderland played Mowbray's preferred 4-2-3-1 system against Watford and were expected to use the same shape today. On the bench, Mowbray included Michut and Alex Pritchard, both of whom made important contributions as substitutes against the Hornets.
Preston boss Ryan Lowe made three changes, in his case to the side that began the 4-1 defeat at Sheffield United last time out which ended his team's play-off hopes. Liam Lindsay, Ali McCann, and Liam Delap came into the side. Patrick Bauer, Josh Onomah, and Daniel Johnson, were due to drop out but a late injury in the warm-up meant Lowe had to change things around at the last minute.
READ MORE: Preston vs Sunderland LIVE: Early team news from Black Cats' final play-off push
Bauer kept his place in the starting XI, with Andrew Hughes missing out after he suffered an injury in the warm-up. Scholar Kaedyn Kamara replaced Bauer on the bench. You can follow all the action on our live blog here.
Today's teams
Sunderland: Patterson, Gooch, Hume, O'Nien, Cirkin, Ekwah, Neil, Roberts, Amad, Clarke, Gelhardt
Subs: Bass, Ba, Pritchard, Lihadji, Michut, Anderson, Taylor
Preston: Woodman, Lindsay, Storey, Bauer, Potts, Ledson, McCann, Parrott, Fernandez, Delap, Cannon
Subs: Cornell, Kamara, Onomah, Woodburn, Slater, Leigh, Mawene
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