JOHN O’SHEA will miss Sunderland’s game at Everton this afternoon after failing to recover from a shoulder injury.
O’Shea’s absence, alongside Wes Brown’s one-match suspension, has forced Poyet to field Modibo Diakite and Valentin Roberge at the heart of defence.
The pair, who have played together only once this season in the 3-1 defeat to Arsenal, come up against an inform Everton side spearheaded by Romelu Lukaku.
Steven Fletcher returns to the side ahead of Jozy Altidore, while Lee Cattermole will captain the Black Cats for the first time since he was stripped of the captaincy by Paolo Di Canio in the summer.
Everton: Howard, Jagielka, Distin, Oviedo, Coleman, Mirallas, McCarthy, Barry, Osman, Pienaar, Lukaku.
Subs: Robles, Heitinga, Jelavic, Naismith, Barkley, Stones, Alcaraz.
Sunderland: Mannone, Celustka, Diakite, Roberge, Bardsley, Larsson, Cattermole, Ki, Colback, Borini, Fletcher.
Subs: Dossena, Cabral, Johnson, Altidore, Ba, Giaccherini, Pickford.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here