Tony Mowbray is confident that Sunderland can still pose a threat to their Premier League opposition, even without a striker - although he has hinted that if he could start Joe Gelhardt tonight, he would.
ROBUST
"We had that decision to make with Ross at Shrewsbury, before Gelhardt came in, and we played him. I think if you get yourself in a situation where you are trying to protect them all the time and you're not playing them in this game and not playing them in that game because you're being careful… You have to try and build robust footballers, I think. I don't want to say 'I played 60 games a season for six seasons on the bounce and we played every three days' because the game was different, the pitches were different, everything was different, I do like the idea of building young, robust, footballers who can play."
AMAD LOVES PLAYING
"Look at Amad - he plays every minute of every game, never says he's tired, never moans about anything, he just wants to play footy. He just wants to be out there playing, and you could leave him out there all day just kicking a ball about and doing tricks with his mates. That's what you want, footballers who just want to play, who are asking 'when's the next game, when can I get my boots on and go again?' That's what I'm hoping we've got, some really athletic, hungry footballers who want to show everybody how good they are."
ONE EYE ON READING
"We'll have to make some decisions in terms of the selection for the team, with half an eye on a league match against Reading at home this weekend that we have to try and target to get the three points."
BALANCE
"It's just about getting the balance - how much can you go to the well with the same group of players every match? We're in a period now where we potentially have a midweek game every week this month, with a squad where we will have a 15-year-old on the bench again and maybe a couple of 17-year-olds as well."
YOUNG SQUAD
"It's stretching our squad, with the injuries we've got and some players who aren't eligible tomorrow night. We're a bit short for this game but it's a great opportunity for some of these youngsters to feel the atmosphere and show what we can do. What I would say is that the positive of me sitting here and talking about young the squad is, well they should all be fit, strong, powerful and able to run. I shouldn't have to worry about tired old legs and hopefully that remains the case. It's a young, athletic group and they should be robust."
TOUGH TEST
"We understand it's a challenge and a test. It's a great game for these young lads to go and show where they are, and see if we can repeat the consistency of the first game where we gave a really good account for themselves."
PLAY STYLE
"I think it's a given that we give everything we have got in every game, and we are on the front foot trying to play positive, possession-based football. It's not always easy to play possession-based football against a top Premier League side, but the positive for me from the first game is that we tried to be positive and play through them, not just kick it down the pich and look for scraps. I thought we were really progressive with the ball in the first game, and yet we felt their quality when they had the ball."
CAUSE THEM PROBLEMS
"The positive for me was that we threatened their goal and could actually get through them by being brave and playing with Patrick and playing with Amad and Jack. It was frustrating when Ross came off for us because we lost that real cutting edge at the top end of the pitch that can score a goal out of nothing."
AGGRESSIVE ATTITUDE
"But it was the attitude of the team more than any individual players that was the positive on the day. We played without fear. The fact we got a goal, of course, gave us something to hang on to. If we'd been a goal or two down, sometimes it can be more difficult to believe in playing on the front foot and getting after the ball. We'll try and be aggressive right from the off and get the first goal so we have something to cling to, and hopefully we will have a really good evening."
