SUNDERLAND complete their group campaign in the Checkatrade Trophy this evening, with midfielder George Honeyman admitting thoughts are already turning towards a possible appearance at Wembley.

The Black Cats are guaranteed a place in the last 32 of the competition if they claim at least a draw in their final group game at Morecambe, and even if they were to lose at the Globe Arena, they would still qualify unless the game between Carlisle United and Stoke City Under-21s was to end in a draw, with Carlisle going on to win on penalties.

If Sunderland were to win their group, they would secure a home tie in the last 32 against one of the teams to finish as runners-up in the Northern section, with the first batch of knock-out matches due to take place at the start of next month.

With Sunday’s FA Cup success at Port Vale having made it seven victories in a row in all competitions, Sunderland’s players are determined to keep their winning run going. And with the Checkatrade Trophy culminating in a glamour final at Wembley, Honeyman insists there are plenty of reasons to treat tonight’s game with respect.

“I think we've shown what we think of the competition in every Checkatrade game that we’ve had,” said the Sunderland skipper. “We’ve played a relatively strong team, and now there are not many games to get to Wembley if we can carry on this run.

“But not only that, we want to keep up our run of wins, keeping the momentum going. Whatever the match, we want to come off as winners and it will take us massively far if we carry that winning mentality into whatever – whether it’s training games, Checkatrade, FA Cup, league – we want to go and win it.”

Jack Ross will make a number of changes this evening, although the rules of the competition prevent him from resting his entire outfield team. The Sunderland boss has to play at least four players who were either involved in Sunday’s FA Cup win or will feature in Saturday’s League One game with Wycombe Wanderers.

Nevertheless, the trip to Morecambe provides an opportunity to give some game time to some of the players who have found themselves on the fringe of things in recent weeks. Glenn Loovens, Alim Ozturk and Bryan Oviedo could all start after they were unused substitutes at the weekend, while Max Power and Josh Maja could also feature in the starting line-up after coming off the bench at Vale Park.

“We’ll make a lot of changes for Tuesday,” said Ross, in the wake of his side’s FA Cup win. “It was 5pm (on Sunday) when we were leaving Port Vale, so it’s obviously not long until we play again. We’ve only had one day to prepare for the Morecambe game, so within the rules of the competition, we’ll make significant changes to the team.”

Ross adopted a similar approach for Sunderland’s previous Checkatrade games, which resulted in a draw with Stoke Under-21s and a convincing home win over Carlisle.

The Black Cats boast the strongest squad outside the top two divisions, enabling Ross to fight on three different fronts this month without having to place an undue burden on his players.

“We can take every competition seriously, and I think that’s down to the strength in depth we’ve got,” said Honeyman. “I think we could play any XI from our squad and you’d look at it and think, ‘That’s a strong team’.

“When the gaffer puts out a team, he says before every game, we expect to win. It’s a fresh approach from how Sunderland have been for the last few years. It’s a happy camp at the minute. A winning camp is a happy camp.”

Tonight’s game is Sunderland’s 21st competitive fixture of the season, but with only one of those matches having resulted in a defeat – September’s league trip to Burton Albion – no one is complaining about the workload.

The Checkatrade Trophy might be fairly low on the list of priorities, but like the early rounds of the FA Cup, the group stage of the competition offers an opportunity to build momentum without having to deal with the pressures of maintaining a position in the automatic promotion places.

“I wouldn’t say the cups are a distraction at all,” said Honeyman. “When you get into the mentality of winning games, you want as many games as possible. We’d be happy with a game every three days when we’re thinking as we are at the minute, ‘Right, let’s just get on and win it’.

“That’s why we’re really excited about the FA Cup as well. We just want to get into each round and win the game. We just want to keep going because, at the minute, we’re feeling good so let’s bring on anyone.”

Sunderland (possible, 4-2-3-1): Ruiter; Matthews, Loovens, Ozturk, Oviedo; O’Nien, Honyeman; Maguire, Mumba, Power; Maja.