Sunderland face yet another massive contest as they take on Lincoln City this afternoon.

The Black Cats are one of the EFL's in-form sides and are firmly on track to challenge for automatic promotion after a disappointing couple of years.

But the fact of the matter is that they need to keep winning.

Lee Johnson's side are on a run of 10 games without defeat in all competitions and that has certainly seen them close the gap on the top two, but they must continue that run at the Stadium Of Light.

With that in mind here are the key decisions facing the Sunderland boss.

Injury concerns

Lee Johnson looks like he'll be without a number of key players for the clash with Lincoln City.

As per the Sunderland Echo, Denver Hume and Aiden O'Brien are said to be progressing well while the likes of Jordan Jones and Bailey Wright are still a couple of weeks from a return.

With none of these players likely to feature at the Stadium Of Light it means that Johnson's options could be limited.

Midfield dilemma

Lee Johnson has a positive selection headache in the middle of the park.

Carl Winchester has struggled for gametime of late but was hugely impressive in the midweek victory over Accrington Stanley.

With Josh Scowen and Grant Leadbitter waiting in the wings it means that the Sunderland boss has a handful of players who are desperate to be involved and so he faces a big decision.

Does Ross Stewart start?

What a debut it was for the striker.

Stewart has endured a difficult start to his career at the Stadium Of Light but made a great impression off the bench against Accrington Stanley after finding the net with a looping header.

It'll be interesting to see if he's fit enough to start against Lincoln because if he is then I'm sure he'll be brimming with confidence.