Sunderland

All the latest updates from the New York Stadium as Tony Mowbray's Black Cats look to continue their play-off challenge.

[Joe Gelhardt](https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/all-about/joe-gelhardt) will score goals for [Sunderland](https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/all-about/sunderland-afc) - and insists in the meantime his all-round contribution is proving just as valuable. [Black Cats](https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/all-about/sunderland-afc) will jet out to Austin, Texas, on July 12 for a ten-day trans-Atlantic trip. [Ross Stewart](https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/all-about/ross-stewart) and [Corry Evans](https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/all-about/corry-evans) have been ruled out for the remainder of the season, and [Leeds United](https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/all-about/leeds-united-fc) loanee [Joe Gelhardt](https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/all-about/joe-gelhardt) is still looking for his first goal in red-and-white. Sunderland will then travel to North Carolina for their final friendly on Friday, July 21, at WakeMed Park with the opposition for that game yet to be confirmed. But he is getting into the right positions, getting on the end of chances, and only the woodwork denied him a goal at QPR last Tuesday. The The Black Cats head to Rotherham United tonight sitting in a play-off spot with just 14 games of the Championship campaign remaining, and on the back of a run that has seen them lose just one of their last ten league games. "He'll find the net for us. "He's been working really, really, hard and that's important. As I've said before, at Blackburn Rovers we were second on February 12 last season and ended up eighth. We've got one or two knocks from the weekend but we think they'll be alright, we'll do a fitness test before we go." "Niall Huggins is back training but he's a week or so away [from being in contention].

Shane Ferguson's third goal in six matches proved the matchwinnerStruggling Rotherham earned a precious win as they ended high-flying Sunderland's ...

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Tony Mowbray has explained the decision to drop Patrick Roberts to the Sunderland bench against Rotherham.

Joe Gelhardt's first goal for Sunderland wasn't enough as they narrowly lost out to Rotherham United at the New York Stadium in the Sky Bet Championship.

Sunderland got themselves back into the match on the hour mark, Luke O’Nien’s pinpoint cross finding Gelhardt, who perfectly timed his run inside the Rotherham box to head past Johansson at the back post. In a lacklustre first half from the visitors, Sunderland returned to the pitch with a point to prove and almost got off to the perfect start, but Gelhardt’s close-range volley was ruled out for offside. Pritchard found an unmarked Dan Ballard from the resulting corner; the defender rose highest inside the Rotherham box but agonisingly watched his header whistle wide of Johansson's far post.

It's just frustrating, isn't it? I don't get it. I actually think in the end that we were robbed by a poor refereeing decision - the goalie runs into Luke O' ...

This is our first loss on the road for ages and our first proper stinker since we played Cardiff last year. When he’s on the pitch he makes things happen and, crucially, makes us tick - the rest of the team is far better when he’s out there, and you can help but think that the game would have gone differently if he had started. Sunderland were not set up well enough to compete physically against a team who only really have the physical edge over us. Trai Hume helped to link the play better down the right, ably aided by Patrick Roberts who was our best player on the night, and must be wondering like the rest of us why he didn’t play from the start. Cirkin was terrible and was going to get himself sent off, so on came Aji Alese who gave us a lot more. It’s not necessarily Mowbray’s mantra to make half time changes but this felt like an occasion where it was warranted.

Coventry City host the Mackems on Saturday 25^th February, with a 12:30pm kick-off at the Coventry Building Society Arena for the Sky Bet Championship clash.

The Dugout Draw is taking place again, giving one lucky winner the chance to watch the Sky Blue warm up from pitchside ahead of the clash with Sunderland – the draw will take place at 11:45am, so make sure you’ve entered before then! Make sure you get to the Zone early for this, as it is always popular and numbers are limited. Fans can continue to register their attendance at the Family Zone and will be able to get rewards for coming to the Family Zone regularly.