Neil's Back As Well

Alan Pardew has named a 19 man squad for Sunderland that includes Neil Mellor as well as Jermain Defoe and Matthew Etherington as expected - and is looking for character in his players as they look to make amends for Tuesday night.

He says his players have to bounce back if something goes wrong during a game, but admits:

"That is a concern that we are carrying at the moment and I think that is a direct aftermath of last year.

"We have to put that aside and move on; you are going to have setbacks in games, lose a player, or go down to 10 men.

"You are going to concede maybe a couple of goals but you need that character to come back and there were times on Tuesday when you would look on the pitch and wish for more."

For Sunderland, Colin Healy is out for the season after breaking his leg during the 1-1 draw with Coventry on Monday night while loannee Stewart Downing has been recalled by Middlesbrough.

Also out are Gary Breen, Matt Piper and Sean Thornton but fit-again Paul Thirlwell is likely to come in for Healy in central midfield while John Oster has recovered from a hamstring problem and is likely to cover for Downing.

James, Bywater, Repka, Dailly, Hutchison, Defoe, Horlock, Connolly, Pearce, Harewood, Mullins, Deane, Quinn, Mellor, Ferdinand, Stockdale, Etherington, Mcmahon, Cohen.