SUNDERLAND will be without a staggering 14 first team players when Carlisle United head for the Stadium of Light on Tuesday evening, and positive-thinking manager Jack Ross still doesn’t have a problem with the Checkatrade Trophy.

Ross’ team to face the Cumbrians will effectively have to pick itself, unless he throws in even more younger players than he was intending after revealing a lengthy list of absentees.

Following Saturday’s victory at Bradford City, Jerome Sinclair (hamstring) and Josh Maja (ankle) will not be risked even though their problems are not deemed to be too serious.

Experienced midfielder Lee Cattermole will also be given a break because of his previous injury record and just how important he is now to the League One drive. Max Power is suspended, even though the Checkatrade Trophy game will not count towards his four-match ban.

Goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin and defender Tom Flanagan are away on international duty with Scotland and Northern Ireland, while Bryan Oviedo has gone with Costa Rica, but he was suspended anyway. Teenage midfielder Bali Mumba is on England Under-18s duty.

On top of those Glenn Loovens, Charlie Wyke, Lynden Gooch, Duncan Watmore, Donald Love and Denver Hume remain sidelined through injury, so options are severely restricted when it comes to naming a team. Competition rules state that teams have to play a certain number of players deemed as first-team regulars.

What would have helped slightly was if Checkatrade Trophy fixtures were postponed for teams with three international call-ups in their ranks, like how Saturday’s scheduled League One game with Blackpool has been moved.

“That’s the anomaly of it, because there is that misconception that international players just go at the end of the week,” said Ross. “But Tom, Jon and Bryan all travelled Sunday. Bali is away as well. They all go immediately after the game, so they are unavailable.

“I don’t worry about it. The biggest issue I had was the suspension (how Checkatrade Trophy games don’t count and yet players are still suspended so can’t play), that’s ridiculous, nonsensical. My opinion won’t change on that.

“But this competition is here, there is no reason to complain about it when the season is underway.

“It’s a little different for us because we have the international players away. I am sure there are other clubs like that but I can’t comment.

“We are fortunate that we have Benji Mbunga-Kimpioka until Wednesday with Sweden, so that would have been another one we would have missing.

“It’s difficult because we have the injuries too. We have one or two who we would have really pushed had it been a league game, we have to strike that balance particularly with Josh and Jerome. I can’t afford for anything to happen with those. They are my only out and out options for striker at the moment.”

Mbunga-Kimpioka looks certain to start against Carlisle in the absence of Maja and Sinclair. The 18-year-old looked hungry to impress during his substitute outing against Peterborough a last week – when his drive and commitment lifted the noise levels inside the Stadium of Light.

There will not be a big crowd when Carlisle arrive, but Ross wants to see the players he does send out give it everything to try to secure the win that would lift them top of their group – and possibly secure a place in the next round.

Sunderland supporters have been impressed by the attitude and approach of the team under Ross and Cattermole highlighted after the Bradford win how he thinks performances and the outlook reflect the passion in the Wearside area.

Ross said: “I have been fortunate in that the teams I have been involved with in Scotland had a good energy about them, tempo, they trained and played in a certain way.

“I come with a certain approach, philosophy, and you try to replicate it. I say fortunate because I spoke to people who knew a lot more about this club than I did, they said if you play in that manner then the fans will be hugely responsive to it. It’s a good fit in that sense.

“It’s not about running around like headless chickens, it’s having this energy, tempo, desire about your play in and out of possession. We are getting better at it. The supporters and the team react to each other. Supporters here enjoy that style of play.”

It might sound an easy think to ask the players to do, but plenty of Ross’ predecessors have failed to get the team playing with the sort of spirit that Sunderland fans react to.

He said: “I don’t know what went on before, I always knew how this club was progressing from afar because it is a big club. When we went about training early on it was quite different to what they were used to.

“Some liked that style of play straightaway, others have had to be coaxed along, encouraged.

“The more you get in that group who like that style of play, they drag the others along too. If you have one or two who don’t then they will fall by the wayside, the ones I have inherited have bought into it and the others who I have brought in have responded to it.”

And Ross wants to see a performance, albeit away from the League One promotion charge, against Carlisle that can help Sunderland take a step closer to Wembley.

He added: “It’s a strange competition in some ways, it’s important we talk it up because of the prize at the end of it.

“There are issues with the format, but that’s not changing this season, and it does add to the punishing schedule but there’s nothing we can do about that apart from crack on.

“There is a similar competition in Scotland, when you get towards the latter stages that is when it becomes more exciting.

“Having a final at the national stadium, the silverware, is fantastic. We approached Stoke properly. The analysis we have given to Carlisle and how they play against us is the same as every league game we have had. It will be no different, expect the crowd wont be as big.”

Sunderland (probable) 4-2-3-1 - Ruiter; Matthews, Baldwin, Ozturk, James; McGeouch, O’Nien; Robson, Honeyman, Maguire; Mbunga-Kimpioka.