Simon Grayson has demanded nothing less than one hundred percent from his players when they take on Bury in the Carabao Cup on Thursday evening (KO 7.45pm).
The opening round of the competition will see the Black Cats return to Bury following a 3-2 win over the Shakers in pre-season, with the outing kicking off a busy period for Grayson’s men.
Following the game at Gigg Lane, Sunderland will face Norwich City, Sheffield Wednesday away and Leeds United at the Stadium of Light within the space of six days.
But speaking to safc.com, Grayson stated that his players will take the competition and their opponents seriously.
“It’s very difficult [to rotate the squad] because I treat this competition very seriously and at the start of the season I always like to play my strongest squad to get some sort of unity and confidence.
“But with us playing Thursday, Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday, it’s a real juggling act, so although a large part of the team will be the same there will have to be changes because I have to think about our upcoming games.”
He continued: “We have four in nine days so it’s quite relentless and difficult for a lot of teams, but we’ll deal with it and whoever goes out there is representing the club and they have to try and win to progress.
“There will definitely be an edge to Bury because they’re playing against a team who have just come down, it’s live on the telly and they had a good victory on Saturday.
“We watched them and they’re full of enthusiasm, their work-rate is good, the desire and commitment is there.
"We’re not expecting anything less.”