Despite being undefeated in their last five matches, Sunderland still do not occupy a play-off position in Sky Bet League One.

The Black Cats have three wins in their last four, meaning they sit seventh in the League One standings, two points behind Wycombe Wanderers in sixth.

One point behind Sunderland in eighth, though, is Oxford United - their opponents this weekend.

In that sense, it's a massive clash for Alex Neil's side this weekend, and with that in mind, we thought we'd take a look at a potential XI the Black Cats boss could deploy for the fixture.

 

With no fresh injury concerns ahead of the U's clash, we expect Sunderland to line up in a 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 formation - as they did against Gillingham last weekend.

We expect Anthony Patterson to start in goal, with a back four of Carl Winchester, Danny Batth, Bailey Wright and Dennis Cirkin in front of him.

In midfield, we think Neil could deploy two anchor's of Luke O'Nien and Corry Evans, with Alex Pritchard playing just ahead.

 

 

In the attacking areas, Jack Clarke could start on the left, whilst Patrick Roberts could get the nod on the right.

Up front, Ross Stewart could be tasked with scoring the goals for the Black Cats.

Oxford United vs Sunderland is set for a 3pm kick-off on Saturday 9th April.