So let’s see Black Cats are playing Chelsea, or should I say “Cry Baby FC” and the team can’t score. Great, that makes me feel great. But that’s what you get for being a Sunderland fan I guess.

From Kenwyne Jones

“At home against the top four we’ve done pretty well and no one has battered us or run over us,” said Jones.

“Hopefully we can take that out on Sunday and get a result.

“No one has given us a chance and we’re already the underdogs so all we can do is go out and give it a big effort.”

I’m glad he thinks that way, I just hope the lads can match that intensity. We need to score, and stay up. Quiet simple as that.

Teams for tomorrow:

Sunderland (from): Fulop, Colgan, Bardsley, McCartney, Ferdinand, Davenport, Collins, Ben Haim, McShane, Edwards, Richardson, Tainio, Reid, Whitehead, Leadbitter, Malbranque, Yorke, Cisse, Jones, Healy, Murphy.

Chelsea (from): Cech, Hilario, Bosingwa, A Cole, Terry, Ivanovic, Alex, Carvalho, Belletti, Ballack, Obi, Lampard, Kalou, Malouda, Di Santo, Drogba, Anelka, Essien, Mancienne.

Sunderland (from): Gordon, Fulop, Colgan, Bardsley, Ferdinand, Collins, Kay, Hartley, McCartney, Edwards, Malbranque, Whitehead, Richardson, Leadbitter, Yorke, Tainio, Reid, Murphy, Healy, Cisse, Jones.

Just when you think you’ve seen the Rovers enough, we play them again. I wish for once, we’d play another team, I mean come on.

Some more Match facts from BBC Sport:

HEAD to HEAD

All competitions

This is the fifth time these clubs will have met this season. Prior to this tie; Blackburn won 1-2 at the Stadium of Light in the fourth round of the Carling Cup, but Sunderland had the better of the exchanges in the league, winning 1-2 at Ewood Park and drawing 0-0 on their own patch.

FA Cup

This is the sixth time Sunderland and Blackburn have been drawn together in the competition. Blackburn have progressed in all five of the previous occasions.

So what’s my fearless prediction? Well, I hope that the Black Cats win 1-0, with Cisse getting a late goal.

Free Blog Poll

I hope we not only beat them, but humiliate the “Toon”. They aren’t worth their place in the top division.

I wish I had more to say, but the thought of them just drives me crazy, and would make me fly off the handle. That I do not want you guys to see.

From the team website:

George McCartney will see a specialist later today, hoping to get the go-ahead to return to action soon.

The Sunderland full-back has been sidelined since November 1 after suffering a foot injury which ultimately forced him to go under the surgeon’s knife.

Preston Youths 0 Sunderland Youths 1 (aet)

Conour Hourihane’s extra-time strike gave Sunderland a win in a close FA Youth Cup tie.

Hourihane, the Irish midfielder, scored in the 96th minute at a rain-soaked Deepdale to ensure Sunderland’s passage into the fifth round.

The Black Cats, FA Youth Cup semi-finalists last season, will now face Arsenal at home in the fifth round.

Some notes from the website:

General news:
• Sunderland are 15th in the Barclays Premier League after their 3-0 defeat at Everton.
• The Black Cats have 22 points – four ahead of bottom clubs Blackburn and West Brom, and two more than 17th-placed Middlesbrough – and are just four points behind Fulham who are ninth in the league.
• Away from home, Sunderland have won three games (Tottenham, Blackburn and Hull), drawn two (Wigan and Fulham) and lost five (Aston Villa, Stoke, Chelsea, Man United and Everton), scoring 10 goals and conceding 16.
• League form guide: L L W W D L
• Following Blackburn’s win over Blyth on Monday night, Sunderland will play Rovers for a fourth time this season, in the fourth round of the FA Cup sponsored by E.ON, on Saturday January 24 (kick-off 3pm).
• Steed Malbranque, Phil Bardsley, Teemu Tainio and Dean Whitehead are all on four yellow cards and will get a one-game ban if they reach five before the end of February.

(thanks to the website for all the information and the pictures).

What do I think will happen? We’ll win, because Boro can’t score of defend. We’ll win 3-0, two Kenwyne Jones, one Steed!

It looks like Ricky will stay with the same lineup and bench from the last matches.

Sunderland : Fulop, Colgan, Bardsley, Nosworthy, Ferdinand, Collins, Chimbonda, Edwards, Leadbitter, Malbranque, Reid, Richardson, Tainio, Whitehead, Yorke, Cisse, Jones, Healy, Murphy.

The good news, is that there aren’t any major injuries or knocks, so the side will go into the match healthy. It’s always key to be healthy against a side that is trying to find it’s footing. Kind of like we were doing with Ricky.

I don’t know what to expect from Blackburn. I mean they won their match against Stoke 3-0. But that could have been the case of first match under a new gaffer situation. There’s no doubt that Big Sam is a hell of a manager, he’s proven that with Bolton. He was so good that the stupid bar codes fired him after only six months on the job.

What should we expect from this match? Well it’s going to be a high scoring match. This could also be a loss for the Black Cats. I don’t want to say that because it’s hard to accept the fact that we could lose something.

Prediction?

Sunderland 2 – Jones 23 minute, Cisse 49 minute
Blackburn 1 – Roque Santa Cruz

Because the Everton match is so soon after the Blackburn match (December 28) I’m probably not going to do a match preview.

From the Sunderland Offside Blog, I want to wish your family a Merry Christmas.