The Cobblers look to put their poor league form behind them tonight with the distraction of a Carling Cup trip to Sunderland.
Stuart Gray's side saw off Premier League Bolton Wanderers in Round Two and will be looking to cause another upset at the Stadium of Light. Sunderland won 2-1 at Nottingham Forest to progress to this stage.
Form
After a 3-0 defeat at home to Manchester City rocked the Black Cat's steady start to the season, Sunderland got back on track with a 1-1 draw at Wigan. Last weekend, Roy Keane's men scored two late goals to win the local derby with Middlesbrough.
The Cobblers' season has gone downhill since the win at Bolton with a couple of big away defeats either side of draws with Peterborough and Stockport. After going a goal up at Huddersfield at the weekend, we were eventually beaten 3-2 and any sort of collapse this evening will mean we would have no chance of getting near the Premier League side.
Team News
Sunderland will be without George McCartney and Teemu Tainio for tonight's game. McCartney is cup-tied after playing in West Ham's second round tie at home to Macclesfield while Tainio injured his shoulder in the win over Middlesbrough at the weekend. Goal scorer in that game, Michael Chopra, is set to be involved though after shaking off a dead leg. Kenwyne Jones and Darren Ward are still missing through knee and back injuries respectively.
Stuart Gray will have skipper Chris Doig missing from his squad after the defender struggles with a groin injury. Meanwhile, Karl Hawley is cup-tied after playing in the competition already while at parent club Preston. Leon Constantine, a substitute at Huddersfield, could come back into contention for a starting role. Gray will also be considering starting on loan goalkeeper Frank Fielding after Chris Dunn's mistake for Huddersfield's third goal on Saturday.
Recent Meetings
There have been no recent games between the sides and you have to go back to the 1987/88 season for the last meeting. In that season, Sunderland did a league double over the Cobblers with a 2-0 win at The County Ground and a 3-1 success at Roker Park.
Head to Head...Black Cats v Cobblers
Games Played: 9
Sunderland Wins: 5
Draws: 1
Cobblers Wins: 3
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