Sunderland face a pivotal clash as they travel to face Bristol Rovers on Wednesday night.

The Black Cats are without a win in three after tricky tests against Fleetwood Town, Coventry City and most recently Gillingham who held Phil Parkinson's side to a 2-2 draw at the Stadium Of Light on Saturday.

But with the promotion race getting more intense by the week, it's time for Sunderland to get back to winning ways.

As well as being three points off the top two, just one point separates all of the teams between 3rd and 8th in the table meaning that this hunt for promotion looks set to go right to the wire.

Phil Parkinson will have some big decisions to make on Tuesday night, but who should start against Rovers?

Phil Parkinson certainly has some big decisions to make ahead of the clash with Bristol Rovers.

Bailey Wright will of course miss the clash with an ankle injury that will rule him out for the season, while elsewhere Parkinson has a near-fully fit squad to choose from.

The Sunderland boss once again stuck with largely the same XI for the clash with Gillingham - something which he should be looking to freshen up after going three games without a win.

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Kyle Lafferty was drafted in to replace Charlie Wyke over the weekend and after impressing with a brace, you'd have to say that his place in the starting line-up is all-but confirmed.

Phil Parkinson could be tempted to make some changes to the defence and midfield, but given his recent track record of team selection I'd expect it's more likely to keep the faith.

However one position where I'd make a change is in attack.

While Chris Maguire has shown his quality in recent weeks, Lynden Gooch has gone off the boil somewhat and has been largely ineffective during the last 3 or 4 games.

I'd suggest bringing in Antoine Semenyo in his place.

The Bristol City youngster has looked exciting when coming on in the second half of the last few games, and he could be motivated by taking on his parent club's city rivals in Bristol Rovers - meaning that the Black Cats may benefit from an added bit of passion.

It's surely a must-win, and Phil Parkinson simply can't afford to let the three points slip.