Sunderland are preparing for their Championship match against Birmingham City at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
Krystian Bielik, a midfielder for Birmingham City, will miss Saturday’s match against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light after receiving his fifth yellow card of the season.
Bielik has started 14 of the Blues’ 15 league games this season, but came off the bench against Ipswich in a 2-2 draw, as Wayne Rooney’s side blew a two-goal lead at St Andrew’s.
Bielik, 25, of Poland, came on in the 73rd minute but was booked nine minutes later for a foul on Dane Scarlett. According to EFL rules, a player will receive a one-game suspension if they receive five yellow cards before the 19th game of the season.
Birmingham have taken just one point from four games since Rooney replaced John Eustace as manager at St Andrew’s, dropping the club to 15th in the Championship table.
“I’m seeing improvement every week,” said Rooney after the match. “There were good signs against Southampton last week too – and we’ve now improved on that against a good, tough Ipswich Town side. We got the team organised, on the front foot, and for 45 minutes we were excellent. That dropped a bit second half and we conceded two goals, which was obviously disappointing.
“The subs have to do better when they come on. But I’m pleased with the overall performance levels. It’s different to what the players had been used to – and we knew it was never going to happen overnight.”
Sunderland will also be without centre-backs Luke O’Nien and Dan Ballard against Birmingham at the Stadium of Light, after both picked up their fifth yellow card of the season in Saturday’s goalless draw at Swansea.
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