SUNDERLAND will be deprived of their two leading goalscorers in the final three games of the season, but Paolo Di Canio remains confident his side have enough attacking threat to secure their Premier League status.

Steven Fletcher will miss the remainder of the season with the ankle injury he sustained on international duty with Scotland in March, and he will be joined on the sidelines by Stephane Sessegnon, who was handed a three-match ban in the wake of his dismissal at Aston Villa on Monday.

Between them, the pair have scored 18 of Sunderland's 39 top-flight goals this season, and the club's next highest scorer is Craig Gardner with six successes, four of which have been penalties.

With Connor Wickham also sidelined, the Black Cats' attacking options are severely limited ahead of Monday's crunch home game with Stoke, but Di Canio denies his side could be hampered by a lack of fire power.

“We have more than enough quality to score and win,” said the Sunderland boss, who is considering playing Adam Johnson in a free role behind lone striker Danny Graham. “We are playing at home and that is important because you know what it means – 40,000 supporters pushing to win and providing extra motivation.

“Danny Graham might not have scored yet, but now comes the time when I am sure he will score. In the next three games, that is crucial.

“We also have Adam Johnson, we have different ways to score. I'm not worried. We are going to find a way to damage the opponents, and we're going to put on the field the beat team to win.”

Today's game between West Brom and Wigan will have a major influence on the prevailing mood ahead of Monday's Stadium of Light showdown.

A West Brom win would mean Sunderland would be all-but-guaranteed survival if they were to beat Stoke in two days time. However, a Wigan success at the Hawthorns would leave the Black Cats just two points clear of the drop zone and set nerves jangling.

For all that Di Canio is putting a brave face on things, Sessegnon's absence is undoubtedly damaging. The Benin international's challenge on Yacouba Sylla was mistimed rather than malicious, but it was always hard to see the Football Association upholding Sunderland's appeal and reversing referee Lee Probert's decision.

Sessegnon became the first Black Cats player to be dismissed in the league this season when he saw red at Villa Park, but rather than instructing his players to tread carefully in their next three matches, Di Canio is calling for more bite.

Sunderland's yellow card count is also one of the lowest in the league, and Di Canio concedes his players sometimes lack the physical edge that remains a requirement of the English game.

“They are very genuine players, but very shy,” he said. “I don't want to see my players getting red cards, but even in terms of yellow cards, this isn't a team that has suffered much in that respect.

“Reading and QPR are relegated, but they have two of the best records in the league in terms of getting yellow cards. They have had very few.

“I'm not saying you have to get yellow cards, but maybe we are too nice. I'm not saying we have to have the devil in us because people will say, 'Di Canio wants a killer in his team'. But this is a very genuine group, we are sometimes too clean. We need to have a bit more of an edge.”

They will certainly have to be fully committed on Monday as they will come up against a Stoke team that remains one of the most physical in the league despite Tony Pulis' protestations about modifying his side's preferred style of play.

By the end of last weekend's 1-0 win over Norwich, every Stoke player on the pitch was over six foot tall, a statistic that highlights the type of threat Sunderland can expect to face.

“They play direct football,” said Di Canio. “A lot of the time they go straight to Cameron Jerome and Peter Crouch so they can hold up the ball.

“They did that against Norwich, with long deliveries to the edge of the box and team-mates attacking from behind or in front of the striker. That is how Charlie Adam scored and it is a typical way for them.

“They don't play tippy-tappy. They play straight to the front and try to do damage that way. They are a physical team with a strong presence and they use long throw-ins and set-pieces to bring their tall players into the box. They're dangerous. They're predictable, but that doesn't make it easy.”