Rovers will be looking to get back to winning ways when they travel to face Sunderland in Sky Bet League One this weekend.
Darren Moore’s side were beaten 3-1 at Fleetwood Town in midweek to end a run of five straight wins.
Sunderland’s recent form
The Black Cats have won two of their past six league games, stretching back to a home defeat to Plymouth Argyle on January 19. They followed that up with back-to-back 1-0 wins against Shrewsbury and Ipswich Town respectively.
They have found wins slightly more difficult to come by in recent weeks, and ended January with a 2-2 draw with Gillingham at the Stadium of Light. After another 2-2 draw at MK Dons, they were beaten 2-1 at Shrewsbury in their last outing.
The man in charge
Lee Johnson replaced Phil Parkinson as Sunderland manager in December 2020. The former Barnsley and Bristol City boss has already taken charge of 15 games, winning seven, drawing five and losing three, giving him an overall win percentage of 46.7%
Ones to watch
Jordan Jones
A product of the Middlesbrough academy, it took a move to Scotland for Jones to make a name for himself after an impressive spell at Kilmarnock. The 26-year-old forward spent three seasons at Rugby Park before moving to Rangers on a free transfer in 2019.
He joined Sunderland on loan until the end of the season in the recent January transfer window.
Aiden McGeady
After starting his career with Celtic, the Irish international made almost 200 appearances in Scotland before a move to Russian side Spartak Moscow in 2010. He spent four years abroad before returning to the UK to sign for Premier League side Everton. He struggled for regular game-time during his time at Goodison Park though and spent time on loan at Sheffield Wednesday and Preston North End, before a permanent move to Sunderland in the summer of 2017.
McGeady scored seven goals in his first season at the club and backed that up with a further 14 strikes in the 2018/19 campaign. He hit the back of the net six times in the first half of last season, before spending six months on loan at Charlton Athletic. It took a change of manager for him to appear in the team this season, and he has already made up for lost time with four goals to his name since December.
Charlie Wyke
The big front-man arrived at Sunderland in 2018 and was seen as a focal point in attack as they looked for an immediate return to the second tier. Having started his career with Middlesbrough, it was with Bradford City where Wyke really made his name in the EFL, notching a number of goals and earning a move back to the north-east with Sunderland.
Wyke already has 17 goals to his name in all competitions so far this season.
Last time out
The two sides played out a 1-1 draw when they last met at the Keepmoat Stadium back in November. Grant Leadbitter’s long-range strike looked to have secured all three points for Sunderland, before Fejiri Okenabirhie scored deep into added time to earn a draw for Rovers.
More ahead of this match
