BREAKING NEWS: This weekend, Sunderland travels to Birmingham City to play former manager Tony Mowbray in the Championship.

After Mowbray was fired by Sunderland a little more than two months ago, the two are getting back together, but at St Andrew’s, where Mowbray is now the manager.

Following Wayne Rooney’s departure from Blues last month, he has led the team to six points above the drop zone and recently secured a crucial 1-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers.

Meanwhile, midweek saw Michael Beale’s team lose 1-0 against relegation-threatened Huddersfield Town.

Despite being one point outside the top six, the Black Cats are now in 10th place in the standings. However, a loss tonight might put significant early pressure on Beale following a subpar showing in midweek.

The punch from Patrick Roberts is ideal for Romaine Mundle to begin

Prior to tomorrow’s match, Beale disclosed that Patrick Roberts will miss a month of action due to yet another hamstring issue.
Although he has only recently rejoined the team after a period of absence, Romaine Mundle, a January acquisition, has made substitute appearances in the previous two games.
The January acquisition from Standard Liege has made a few appearances for Sunderland and has demonstrated excellent footwork and technical ability. Over the course of the next month, he could prove to be Roberts’ perfect successor.

Furthermore, given Abdoullah Ba’s lackluster performance during the week, Beale might be thinking of giving Mundle his entire Sunderland debut against Birmingham City tomorrow.
Mundle speed could result in an exciting wingfight.

This season, Birmingham City has already allowed 47 goals. However, under Mowbray, they are progressively strengthening, and they have two very quick full-backs in Lee Buchanan and Ethan Laird.

Tomorrow, watch for Jack Clarke to oppose Laird on the left and possibly Mundle to oppose Buchanan on the right.
This is where the game might be won or lost tomorrow because of the extreme pace on the sides. There may be a new hero on either side of the match as Sunderland aims to return to the top six and Blues want to escape danger.
Beale will want to bleed Mundle into the starting lineup before the upcoming season so that he can presumably step up when Clarke departs. Mundle most definitely has the ability to be that hero.

A victory tomorrow would prevent Beale from coming under further pressure, and if Mundle plays well from the start, Sunderland may have a fresh attacking option heading into the final stretch of the campaign.