West Brom v Sunderland: 13 players 'set to miss out' as team news shared
Sunderland travel to West Brom on Saturday but both sides will be missing a significant amount of players.
Both sides are looking to increase their chances of securing a playoff berth with automatic promotion seemingly out of the question.
West Brom boss Tony Mowbray was in charge at the Stadium of Light for 18 months and guided the Black Cats to the playoffs in his first season.
However, he faces his former club, hoping to inflict misery upon them when they travel to the Hawthorns with several missing stars.
Sunderland have several absentees for West Brom clash
West Brom join Sunderland in hoping to end lengthy Premier League hiatus' and the two sides may meet in the end-of-season showdown.
However, if they do the sides may be vastly different as up to 13 players could miss out on Saturday (5 April).
The Baggies could be missing Jed Wallace and Josh Maja and Semi Ajayi are definitely out of the contest.
Meanwhile, Regis Le Bris is without Ajibola Alese, Dan Ballard, Dennis Cirkin, Enzo Le Fee, Ian Poveda, Jayden Danns, Jenson Seelt, Salis Samed, Leo Hjelde and Niall Huggins.
Sunderland need to beat Mowbray's side
The Black Cats need to beat their former manager, as there is a very slim chance that they can secure automatic promotion.
They are currently nine points behind Leeds with seven matches to play, so it would take a huge collapse from the Whites and Burnley in third place.
| Championship | Played | GD | Points |
| 2. Leeds | 39 | +51 | 81 |
| 3. Burnley | 39 | +42 | 81 |
| 4. Sunderland | 39 | +19 | 72 |
| 5. Coventry | 39 | +5 | 59 |
| 6. West Brom | 39 | +13 | 57 |
However, perhaps more importantly, they could put a marker down of the rest of the playoff contenders if they beat Albion.
It promises to be an intense contest given the implications and how close it is until the end of the campaign, with 14 yellow cards and one red card shown across the two fixtures last season.
The game in November at the Stadium of Light was a quieter affair, ending in a goalless draw with few chances.
However, the circumstances are vastly different and both sides will be desperate to win and Le Bris will be keen to get one over on a potential playoff rival.