JACK ROSS is ready to do everything he can to help Will Grigg recapture his scoring touch and that should see him start at Burnley in the Carabao Cup tonight.

With Marc McNulty not expected to return from injury until Saturday’s trip to Peterborough, Grigg is the obvious alternative to Charlie Wyke who has led the line in the last two league games.

And the trip to face Premier League side Burnley at Turf Moor represents another opportunity for Grigg to get his name on the teamsheet again, as he looks to rediscover the sort of magic that persuaded Sunderland to pay £4m for him last January.

The 28-year-old, a renowned League One goalscorer before heading to Wearside, is yet to find the net this season and has dropped down the pecking order under Ross. He scored four times after his move but was unable to impress as much as was expected.

Ross was frustrated for the Northern Ireland international on Saturday when he wasted a fantastic chance against Wimbledon, when he missed the target from pretty close after working his way into a great position.

“Will made the opportunity himself,” said Ross, who is ready to make a fresh offer for Sheffield Wednesday defender Morgan Fox.

“It was a good ball from Denver Hume for him but it was the physicality and the desire he showed to get himself into the area and get across the defender.

“It’s one of these little phases for him but we’ve got a huge amount of faith in him and the overall performance was really good so if he keeps doing that, the goals will come for him.”

But Ross has admitted in recent weeks he can’t afford to keep putting him in when there are other forwards pressing for a place.

Wyke has earned his recall and he led the line well at Rochdale and against Wimbledon. McNulty’s return to fitness at London Road on Saturday will only make things harder.

“We’ll hopefully have Marc back for the Peterborough game so the competition’s good,” said Ross. “I’ve been really pleased with the players that have come in and those that have come off the bench.

“I felt for Will against Wimbledon in terms of the opportunity he missed because his overall play was good, encouraging, it helped us win the game. He’s just got to keep doing that because the goals will come.”

Sunderland, who could hand a debut to centre-back Joel Lynch after signing the free agent, head to Burnley unbeaten and full of confidence after making it four wins in a row since beating Accrington in the first round of the competition.

But Ross has suggested he will be tinkering with his team because it comes between two League One fixtures, with him knowing that promotion this season is the priority.

“We will make a lot of changes but equally we’ll have a good team out,” said Ross. “We’ve got players like George (Dobson), like Dylan (McGeouch) who have done not a lot wrong this season. Tom Flanagan comes into that as well. It’s a good game for them to play in as well because I think it’s one they’ll be excited by. It’s important we use the squad properly over these games.”

The need to mix things up comes at a time when Sunderland have already played every midweek since the season started and more are on the horizon.

He said: “We want to keep progressing in the cup but we’ve got Peterborough so we travel Friday. It’s a quick turnaround for us.

“We’ve had six games in 21 days and by the time we get to the end of the week it’ll be eight in 28, which is a punishing schedule for all the teams that have played from day one and are progressing in the Carabao Cup. We’ll properly utilise our squad.”