Watford 1 Sunderland 0: Highlights after Ryan Andrews goal gives hosts win at Vicarage Road

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Sunderland’s Championship match against Watford at Vicarage Road.

The Black Cats will be hoping to get back to winning ways following last weekend’s 1-0 defeat against Millwall.

We’ll have live updates, analysis, reaction and more throughout the day.

We’ll start with the Sunderland team news.

Dennis Cirkin has returned to training following a hamstring injury, yet may not feature in the side’s final two matches of the season following a lengthy layoff.

Nazariy Rusyn is also unlikely to play again this term as he recovers from a calf issue. Dan Neil (below) is set to miss the rest of this season with an ankle injury, while Elliot Embleton, Niall Huggins and Jenson Seelt remain sidelined.

Here’s what Dodds had to say about Watford and their head coach Tom Cleverley:

“Every game in the Championship is a tough game. Tom has changed their approach, but it is our responsibility to nullify their strengths and capitalise on their weaknesses. “He clearly deserves the appointment. They have changed their style and are very well organised.

“They have an identity. They have picked up positive results and he has merited the job. I really hope in the long term, Tom is a massive success for them.”

Cleverley took charge of Watford as interim head coach last month following the sacking of Valerien Ismael.

Since then, the Hornets have won once, drawn five and lost five in the Championship and sit 15th in the table.

Watford then announced on Wednesday they had appointed Cleverley as their permanent head coach.

Here’s what Cleverley had to say when asked about Sunderland:

“They are a young team, a dynamic team, and they will play without fear. They’ve gone to a back three in recent weeks and looked very solid in that, I think after they had a heavy defeat against Blackburn, they’ve then conceded only one in their last four.

“We expect a very tough test, a hard nut to crack. I don’t expect a game that looks like two teams in mid-table winding down, we certainly have a lot to play for, and we are really desperate for that home win to send our fans away with a smile on their face and a lot of hope for next season.”

Here are our predicted line-ups for today’s match:

Predicted Watford XI: Bachmann, Porteous, Sierralta, Hoedt, Andrews, Kone, Kayembe, Lewis, Bayo, Asprilla, Dennis

Predicted Sunderland XI: Patterson, Hume, O’Nien, Ballard, Alese, Ekwah, Bellingham, Rigg, Aouchiche, Clarke, Hemir