World News – GB – Sunderland 0-0 Portsmouth LIVE

Welcome to our live Sunderland vs Portsmouth blog from the Stadium of Light

The Black Cats embark on today’s decisive game, having maintained their unbeaten Ligue 1 record with a 1-0 win over Crewe Alexandra on Tuesday night

Phil Parkinson takes over Tom Flanagan, while compatriot Jordan Willis could also return for Sunderland today

Pompey is in better shape after a poor start to the season, winning three of his last four

James Hunter is at the Stadium of Light for us today to bring you all the latest news

Phil Parkinson made a change to the squad that started the midweek victory over Crewe AlexandraJordan Willis came back to the side after recovering from the bruised foot he suffered in Swindon Town at the weekend last end and which prevented him from playing against the railway workersHe took his usual spot on the right side of the final three, with Conor McLaughlin falling to the bench at the expense of Jack DiamondThis meant Lynden Gooch continued in the right-winger role he played against Crewe Portsmouth boss Kenny Jackett remained with the same starting XI who won 2-0 at Gillingham on Tuesday night’s former forward. Coventry City Jordy Hiwula has been included on the bench after signing a short-team contract with the South Coast club this week

« Sunderland has five clean sheets in the league and is up there again. No one really expected anything different, » he said

« They were going to be one of the teams to beat and compete this year if you want to get promoted

« Sunderland / Pompey is always such a big game We have to play our own game As we watch the opposition I think we have to focus on ourselves – and we think we are capable of scoring goals against anyone

« We have to believe in ourselves and make sure that we are going to play our own game

« Sunderland will be one of the best teams in the league, up there with one of the teams to beat »

Charlie Wyke has improved his game since returning to Sunderland – and Phil Parkinson challenged the forward to further improve his form

« People on the outside don’t have the advantage of seeing what we see in terms of physical performance of the players

« We want to be a team that presses forward and Charlie has the ability to be exceptional at that – he’s very fit and athletic, and he has to show it regularly

« In the last couple of games we’ve brought him back to where we wanted him to be, when at the start of the season the outing wasn’t quite where it needed to be

« He fixed that and he has his rewards, but it is his responsibility to continue if he is selected »

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But there was positive news ahead of the midweek victory over Crewe with an x-ray revealing Willis suffered severe bruising on his foot rather than a fracture, then an MRI on Flanagan’s ankle only showed no serious issues which meant he even figured as a late submarine against the railway workers

And the knee injury that kept Hume out of last weekend’s game at Swindon Town cleared up in time for him to start and complete the full 90 minutes on Tuesday night.

Willis has continued to improve this week and could be in the running to face Portsmouth at the Stadium of Light tomorrow, while Flanagan and Hume have both trained normally and will be available

« Sunday I was counting all the defenders I expected to be without on Tuesday night against Crewe and that was a concern, but luckily Jordan Willis’ injury was not as bad as we had feared and it was ‘was the same with Tom, « Parkinson said

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It’s a gloomy day in October, so why not sit down and enjoy what should be a decent game with us?

Sunderland AFC, Portsmouth FC, Phil Parkinson, EFL League One, Charlie Wyke, Jordan Willis, Stadium of Light