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Sunderland travel to Middlesbrough on Wednesday night for a match that might have been a relegation decider but now has little more at stake than avoiding the added humiliation of finishing bottom.
With the clubs so far adrift of a place of safety -- fourth-bottom Hull are 12 points ahead of Sunderland, nine in front of Middlesbrough -- mathematical calculations have become a mere formality.
The next Wear-Tees derby will be in the Championship and neither side can feel confident about emulating the achievement of fellow north-easterners Newcastle United, needing only a point from three games to secure promotion, of an early return to the Premier League.