Burnley vs Sunderland - Arfield and Gudmundsson doubtful

Posted Tuesday, January 17, 2017 by PA

Scott Arfield and Johann Berg Gudmundsson are set to miss out on Burnley's FA Cup third-round replay against Sunderland on Tuesday.

Both players picked up hamstring injuries in the first game at the Stadium of Light and despite making good progress neither is likely to be risked.

Nick Pope is once again likely to be given a start in place of Tom Heaton in goal with Clarets boss Sean Dyche set to make a number of changes.

But unlike some fellow Premier League managers who have come in for criticism after making wholesale changes to their FA Cup line-ups, Dyche insisted his own alterations will prove anything but disrespectful to the competition.

Dyche said: "I enjoyed the performance (in the first game) - a lot was made of it not being a good game but I was certainly pleased with my players.

"We made enough chances to have won the game and we've got to try and do it again. If I make changes it is because I believe in our squad and there is a better depth to our squad than we have had in the past."

Saturday's win over Southampton moved the Clarets up to 10th place in the table but Dyche dismissed the suggestion that his side's promising league form may allow him to be more bullish about focusing on potential success in the cup.

"There are no guarantees - we've given a really good account of ourselves so far this season but it has to be looked at as a whole - good or bad - at the end of the season," he said.

"The future is in front of us and it is up to us to go and grip it and take control of it and we are doing so when we can. But we don't take anything for granted and our focus remains on the next game."

Sunderland boss David Moyes has few fresh options.

Full-back Billy Jones was an unused substitute for Saturday's 3-1 Premier League defeat by Stoke after recovering from a hamstring problem and could feature, but midfielder Steven Pienaar (calf) and striker Victor Anichebe (hamstring) remain doubts.

Moyes is yet to decide whether he will throw any of his young players in at the deep end, and goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, defender Jan Kirchhoff, midfielder Paddy McNair and striker Duncan Watmore (all knee), as well as midfielders Lee Cattermole (hip) and Lynden Gooch (ankle), are still sidelined.

Seb Larsson has challenged his Sunderland team-mates to prove their doubters wrong as they attempt to bounce back from a Premier League nightmare in the FA Cup.

The Black Cats rolled over in a desperate start to the loss to Stoke to leave themselves deep in relegation trouble on a day when a win would have lifted them out of the bottom three.

However, they have an early opportunity to restore some confidence on Tuesday evening, and Larsson is expecting a concerted response.

He said: "Listen, that's all you can do, keep plugging away and keep working, keep making sure we improve, we are better in our performances, we get more points (and we will) hopefully progress in the cup.

"I understand if people don't have a lot of belief in us at the moment, but that's all we can do. We're going to keep working hard and keep making sure that we give ourselves every chance of getting out of trouble."