Ba misses out: The predicted Sunderland XI to face Burnley on Friday night | OneFootball

Sunderland will be looking to secure a positive result on their travels tomorrow evening when they head to Turf Moor to face Burnley.

The Black Cats experienced an inconsistent run of form before the international break which resulted in them losing ground in the race for a top-six finish in the Championship.

Given that Sunderland are seven points behind Millwall, who occupy the final place in the play-offs, they know that they will have to secure a number of victories in the coming weeks in order to have a chance of extending their season past the regular 46 game mark.

Tony Mowbray's side are set to face a daunting task on Friday as Burnley have to suffer a defeat in front of their own supporters this season and are currently coasting towards an immediate return to the Premier League under the guidance of Vincent Kompany.

With two Sunderland players recently suffering injury setbacks, Mowbray will need to make some alterations to his team tomorrow.

When you consider that Mowbray has deployed the 4-2-3-1 formation on numerous occasions this season, it would not be at all surprising if he sticks with this system for this fixture.

Goalkeeper Anthony Patterson has started in all 38 of Sunderland's league games this season and is expected to feature once again on Friday.

With Daniel Ballard set to miss two to three weeks due to a hamstring injury that he sustained on international duty with Northern Ireland, Dennis Cirkin will be drafted in as his replacement and will feature alongside Danny Batth in the heart of defence.

Luke O'Nien and Trai Hume meanwhile are expected to play in the full-back positions.

Edouard Michut, who scored his first goal for Sunderland earlier this month, will be partnered in the heart of midfield by Dan Neil.

Neil recently committed his long-term future to the Black Cats by extending his contract to 2026.

Abdoullah Ba is likely to miss out on Friday due to the presence of Amad Diallo.

Diallo rescued a point for Sunderland in their clash with Luton after being brought on as a replacement for Ba as he converted a spot-kick.

Having provided 11 direct goal contributions during his loan spell with the Black Cats, Diallo will be confident in his ability to cause problems for Burnley's defenders tomorrow.