Blackpool and Sunderland will want to show their promotion credentials as they face off at Bloomfield Road

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The Tangerines and the Black Cats face off at Bloomfield Road as both sides look to prove why they should be promoted into the Championship.

The early kick-off on the Fylde Coast will have major repercussions in the play-off race with both sides sitting in the top six as things stand.

Sunderland suffered a shock defeat to Wigan in midweek whilst the Seasiders played out a quickly forgotten goalless draw against Lancashire neighbours Accrington Stanley.

Neil Critchley’s side are now 15 games unbeaten in League One but he will be looking for his side to turn more of those games into victories with a number of points dropped from winning positions starting to mount up.

Having said that, with an unbeaten record at home since October, they are well on course to cementing a place as they look to return back to the second tier for the first time since 2014/15.

This will be the first fixture between the two clubs this season as this match was initially scheduled for earlier in the season but after a Covid-19 outbreak in Sunderland’s camp, the game was rescheduled for this weekend.

In terms of injury lists, Blackpool still have an array of options out of the picture as has been the case throughout this campaign, but there are no fresh concerns ahead of this one.

Gary Madine, Keshi Anderson, CJ Hamilton and Matty Virtue remain long-term absentees, but Marvin Ekpiteta will be pushing for a starting place as he upped his recovery in a development fixture at Huddersfield.

For the visitors, their automatic promotion hopes have taken a major knock with back-to-back defeats following a relentless unbeaten run after Lee Johnson’s arrival in the hot seat.

Central defender Bailey Wright has come back into contention after playing the full 90 minutes against Wigan after two months on the sidelines.

The 13 assists of Aiden McGeady alongside 23 goals from Charlie Wyke have sent Sunderland flying up the league table to what they see as their rightful home on their journey back to the top flight.

Johnson’s side have become more of a unit and look well organised both on and off the ball making it a challenge for any side that comes up against them.

However, in Blackpool, they face a unique test and Bloomfield Road is probably the last place they will want to visit after back-to-back defeats.

Many promotion candidates have visited the Fylde Coast in recent times and all have been unable to find a way through this adaptable Tangerine side.

Peterborough were comfortably dispatched with Jonson Clarke-Harris left to feed off scraps due to the high intensity from the hosts in transition, whilst Portsmouth lost out against a structured and well-organised defensive unit.

Confidence is flowing through this Blackpool side although they have suffered what, given how imperious they have been since the turn of the year, a slight blip throwing away their two-goal advantage at Lincoln before the goalless draw against Accrington.

Creative options off the bench to reinvigorate the side in the final half-hour are limited and many are calling for academy prospect Brad Holmes to get some game time having made a big impression in the youth ranks this season.

Whatever the option may be, Blackpool have always upped their game when a test of their credentials comes calling and two games in two weeks against Sunderland will be the perfect chance for them to show their promotion metal as the season ends.

It will be a tightly fought affair but the Seasiders have always found a way in 2021 to pick up the points when it matters.

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