Sunderland take on Fleetwood on Friday evening with a real need to get a result.

In all competitions, the Black Cats have failed to win their last three games and not since the very beginning of November have they won in the league.

It’s a period of form that has led to questions about Phil Parkinson’s future, but also about their promotion hopes.

They are now eight points off the summit of League One and are chasing the pack again just as they have done in the last two seasons.

So how on earth does Parkinson go about resolving things, especially against a side they lost to only a matter of weeks ago?

Well, hopefully fielding the following XI would be a good start.

Our predicted XI for tonight’s clash features two changes to the side that drew with Doncaster last time out.

The first replacement is in goal where Lee Burge returns to the fold in place of Remi Matthews. The latter has played in the last two games because of an injury to Burge but he could return on Friday.

The only other change is an enforced one. Lyndon Gooch has been ruled out for around a month, and thus, we’re tipping Elliot Embleton to come into the XI.

He’s not started in the league for Sunderland since March 8th 2019, so is set to return after 645 days away.

He spent the 2019/20 campaign on loan at Grimsby but was out for a period of five months because of a serious hamstring injury.

However, the youngster has been building his fitness up and now seems like an ideal chance to finally give him an opportunity.

Charlie Wyke didn’t score last time out but should keep his place ahead of Will Grigg given his haul of five goals in the last ten matches.

You may also notice that we reckon Parkinson will stick with a three at the back system.

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