Early corner for Sunderland as George Honeyman puts Christian Burgess under pressure towards his own goal.

A flick on at the near post by Lee Cattermole is just too far out of Alim Ozturk's reach as he runs in. Decent early chance.

Might be plenty of empty seats on view, but those who have come of a Sunderland persuasion are certainly in good voice early on.

Portsmouth with more of the ball though in these early exchanges.

Image source, PA

Here we go then!

Who will take the advantage then in this first leg? Time for the talking to stop....

Referee Andy Woolmer gets us started.

Join in the conversation with us during this game on social media.

Use #bbcefl to tell us what you've made of the play-offs so far.

Who do you think is going to join Luton and Barnsley in the Championship next season out of the four in this League One pressure cooker?

They love to crank up the volume of the PA before kick-off at the Stadium of Light.

The Prodigy's Invaders Must Die the tune of choice as the two sides step out from the tunnel...

The build-up to this first leg for Sunderland has been slightly disturbed by speculation in the board room as owner Stewart Donald reportedly looks for additional investment.

Our colleagues at BBC Newcastle have been across the details....

Although rights restrictions prevent us from being able to broadcast commentary of this game online or via the BBC Sport app, our BBC local radio colleagues have this game covered in you're in the local area.

Both BBC Newcastle and BBC Radio Solent are across it all at the Stadium of Light.

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Both these sides would've arguably had their sights on achieving automatic promotion this season, but they just couldn't keep up with Luton and Barnsley in a sprint to the finish line.

In fact - both clubs come into this one on a bit of a stutter after slipping to fifth and fourth respectively in the final league table.

It's no win in four for Sunderland and two defeats in a row as they went down 2-1 at both Fleetwood and Southend in the final week.

Portsmouth are without a win in three after they spurned the chance to sneak into second place. One of those two 1-1 draws in their last three games was the match at the Stadium of Light a fortnight ago.

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These two sides know more than a fair bit about each other already this season.

Not only have they played each other twice in the regular league season, as recently as two weeks ago in fact, but they've also already met at Wembley Stadium.

Pompey took the bragging rights in March's Checkatrade Trophy Final when they won a penalty shootout following a 2-2 draw after extra-time.

More recently, these two could not be separated in a 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light. Chances of a repeat scoreline tonight?

Well, how big a blow for Sunderland will that late loss of Aiden McGeady be?

He scored twice against Portsmouth in the Checkatrade Trophy Final at Wembley in March.

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Sunderland bring five players back to their starting line-up after Jack Ross shuffled the pack for the defeat by Southend United last weekend.

Lewis Morgan, Lee Cattermole, George Honeyman, Luke O'Nien and Bryan Oviedo all start.

Striker Will Grigg drops to the bench as a result.

There's a very late change after the warm-up it seems with Aiden McGeady, who was set to start, dropping out of the squad completely. Lynden Gooch takes his place and Denver Hume comes on to the bench.

Portsmouth make three changes from their 1-1 draw against Accrington last Saturday with Jamal Lowe, Ronan Curtis and Nathan Thompson all returning from injuries.

But they will be without full-back Lee Brown (Achilles) and forward Brett Pitman (knee) through injury.

Sunderland XI: McLaughlin, Flangan, Ozturk, O'Nien, Oviedo, Cattermole, Honeyman, Power, Gooch, Morgan, Wyke.

Subs: Ruiter, Matthews, Maguire, Hume, Dunn, Grigg, Leadbitter.

Portsmouth XI: MacGillivray, Thompson, Burgess, Clarke, Walkes, Naylor, Close, Lowe, Evans, Curtis, Hawkins.

Subs: Bass, Cannon, Morris, May, Dennis, Solomon-Otabor, Bogle.

Image source, PA

Well, well - here we go then for yet more EFL play-off action.

If you think you've had enough to keep you occupied already today, then think again.

We've got yet another semi-final first leg on the way for you in League One.

What's more, it's a biggun'. Two former Premier League clubs who've seen a fair bit of each other already this season and now have promotion on the line.

Sunderland v Portsmouth - Part One is on the way in the next 15 minutes....