Sunderland travel to Oxford United on Saturday looking to build on their 3-0 win against Rochdale in midweek at the Stadium of Light, which saw them climb up to 5^th place in the League One table.

Phil Parkinson’s side have show the right kind of response to suffering their first league defeat of the new calendar year away to promotion rivals Portsmouth a few weeks ago, with the Black Cats having won back to back games against Ipswich Town and Rochdale to get their top six push back on track.

That means the Black Cats have now won six of their nine League One matches since the turn of the year, which has helped get Parkinson’s side right back into the mix for automatic promotion, with Sunderland sitting just five points adrift of second placed Peterborough United heading into the weekend’s fixtures.

Parkinson will be hoping his side can continue their recent upwards momentum against Oxford, who themselves are not out of the mix of the teams chasing a top six finish heading into the weekend, and another three points would go along way to cementing the Black Cats position as real promotion contenders.

Considering that Oxford have won just one of their last seven League One matches since the turn of the year, which has seen them fall away from the top six, Sunderland could have a real chance to continue their recent run, although the hosts do have a good record at home this season so it will not be an easy task to secure all three points.

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Here then, we take a look at the starting XI Parkinson could select against Oxford on Saturday…

Considering the sort of form Sunderland have been showing over the last few weeks, Parkinson is unlikely to be wanting to make too many changes to his starting line-up for the Black Cats’ trip to Oxford, which should mean that he sticks with the same sort of shape that has been serving them well of late.

Parkinson is highly likely to keep Jon McLaughlin in goal, with the keeper having been in good form for the Black Cats during their recent positive run of form, and he will be looking to make it three clean sheets in a row, having kept both Ipswich and Rochdale from scoring in Sunderland’s last two league games.

Sunderland are also likely to stick with the same back three that started against Rochdale, with Jordan Willis keeping his place on the right-hand side of the back three and Bailey Wright starting in the middle, while Tom Flanagan should continue at the heart of the Black Cats’ defence in the continued absence of Joel Lynch.

In the wing-back positions, Luke O’Nien should keep his place down the right-hand side, while Denver Hume should also keep his place in the side ahead of Declan John, and the pair could be an important outlet going forwards for the Black Cats.

At the heart of Sunderland’s midfield both Max Power and George Dobson have been delivering some effective performances of late, which should be enough to ensure that keep their places in the starting line-up, with Josh Scowen continuing to push for a place in Parkinson’s side from the start.

In the two wide forward positions, Lynden Gooch will keep his place on the left having delivered yet another excellent display against Rochdale, with the attacker scoring twice and proving to be a constant threat, but Parkinson could elect to give Chris Maguire a rest even though he should be fit enough to feature after coming off in the second half in midweek, which would mean a start for Antoine Semenyo.

Up front Parkinson is likely to keep his faith in Charlie Wyke, and the striker’s physical presence and hold up play could be a vital weapon for the Black Cats, as they look to make it three wins in a row in League One on Saturday.