Bouncing back from Tuesday night's miserable Carling Cup performance against Northampton, the Lads travel to the Midlands to take on Aston Villa on Saturday (3pm kickoff).

Nyron Nosworthy's hamstring tear is set to let Danny Collins start a partnership with Anton Ferdinand, while Grant Leadbitter is expected to miss out with a broken nose and concussion. Teemu Tainio's shoulder injury rules him out, as Phil Bardsley is a doubt.

George McCartney returns from being cup-tied against Northampton, while we'll still be without Darren Ward, Kenwyne Jones and Martyn Waghorn through injury.

Sunderland (possible XI)
1. Craig Gordon
21. Pascal Chimbonda, 15. Danny Collins, 26. Anton Ferdinand, 3. George McCartney
8. Steed Malbranque, 6. Dean Whitehead, 10. Kieran Richardson, 20. Andy Reid
11. El Hadji Diouf, 9. Djibril Cisse

Aston Villa are expected to go back to their normal starting XI after being knocked out of the Carling Cup to QPR during the week courtesy of a makeshift side.

That'll see Brad Friedel replace compatriot Brad Guzan in goal, while Wilfried Bouma (knee) and Steve Sidwell (ankle) misses out.

Aston Villa (from): Friedel, Luke Young, Davies, Laursen, Shorey, Reo-Coker, Barry, Petrov, Ashley Young, Carew, Agbonlahor, Guzan, Knight, Cuellar, Gardner, Osbourne, Milner, Harewood, Routledge.

What The Bookies Say
Sunderland win - 9/2; Aston Villa win - 8/13; Draw - 13/5
Sunderland to win 1-0 - 11/1; Aston Villa to win 1-0 - 5/1; 1-1 draw - 6/1
First Scorer Odds: John Carew (9/2); Gabriel Agbonlahor (5/1); Marlon Harewood (13/2); Djibril Cisse, Ashley Young (8/1); Michael Chopra (9/1)
Our Prediction: Aston Villa 2 Sunderland 1 (7/1)
(all odds from BoyleSports.com)

Through Rain and Shine
At Villa Park on Saturday, we're expecting it to be sunny with very few clouds, as temperatures reach around 20C.
(weather from AccuWeather.com)

Last Five Meetings
Aston Villa 0 Sunderland 1 (March 2008); Sunderland 1 Aston Villa 1 (December 2007); Aston Villa 2 Sunderland 1 (May 2006); Sunderland 1 Aston Villa 3 (November 2005); Aston Villa 1 Sunderland 0 (May 2003)