After the 6-1 defeat at Villa Park left a bad taste in the mouth, Sunderland hope to return to winning ways against Stoke and thus reach the magic 40-point mark.

The Potters may be on 40 points at the moment, but it looks as though for the first time in quite a while the point tally is unlikely to be enough for Premier League survival.

Despite the air of controversy surrounding his appointment, Paolo Di Canio has been a real breath of fresh air at the Stadium of Light since replacing Martin O’Neill some month ago.

Following the promising showing at Stamford Bridge, the Black Cats seriously boosted their survival hopes with back to back wins over Newcastle and Everton, but the team were given a rude awakening at Villa Park last time out.

The 6-1 defeat to relegation rivals Aston Villa left Sunderland in the danger zone, and after Wigan beat West Brom away yesterday, they now sit just two points above the relegation positions.

That basically means this is a must-win game for the hosts, with odds of 2.15 (23/20) offered on home win at William Hill enough to suggest they are the favourites here.

The season is finished for key midfielder Stephane Sessegnon after the red card against Aston Villa earned him a three-match ban, and there is every chance James McClean is going to replace him in the starting line-up.

Steven Fletcher, Connor Wickham, Lee Cattermole and Wes Brown are also ruled out of the Stoke game through injury.

Probable starting line-up (4-5-1): Mignolet – Bardsley, Cuellar, O’Shea, Rose – Johnson, Larsson, N’Diaye, Gardner, McClean – Graham.

It is fair to say nobody at the club expected Stoke to fight for their lives after creating a considerable advantage over the relegation zone, but they almost paid the ultimate price for the dismal run in the New Year.

Having picked up just 5 points out of possible 39, the Potters found themselves in all sorts of problems ahead of the clash with struggling QPR.

However, they managed to record an invaluable victory at Loftus Road before reaching the 40-point mark with a narrow win over Norwich.

Stoke may be sitting in 11th place at the moment, but they could still go down if they lose the remaining three fixtures, and with games against Tottenham and Southampton coming up, they will want to get something from the Stadium of Light as well.

That is easier said than done, but with their opponents in a bad place at the moment, the Potters are 4.00 (3/1) at BetFred to claim maximum points in Sunderland.

Matthew Etherington should be recalled to the starting line-up, but Marc Wilson, Andy Wilkinson and Glenn Whelan all face fitness tests.

Probable starting line-up (4-5-1): Begovic – Shotton, Shawcross, Huth, Wilkinson – Walters, N’Zonzi, Whelan, Adam, Etherington – Crouch.

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