LEE JOHNSON is adamant his Sunderland side will not be going to Wembley for a ‘day out’ on Sunday – and has warned of the danger of underestimating Tranmere Rovers just because they play in League Two.

The Black Cats take on Tranmere in the final of the Papa John’s Trophy, and while the competition is hardly at the top of the club’s priority list given that Tuesday’s win at Portsmouth has lifted them to within two points of the automatic-promotion positions, Johnson has been quick to dismiss any suggestion that the game is effectively a ‘free hit’.

Not only do Sunderland have unfinished business with the EFL Trophy after the heartbreak of losing on penalties at Wembley in the 2019 final, Johnson also wants to ensure the momentum generated by an eight-game unbeaten run is not checked.

Tranmere are mounting a promotion push of their own as they lie just two points off the top of the League Two table, and with Keith Hill’s side having already seen off Peterborough and Oxford in the knockout stages of this season’s Trophy, Johnson will not be taking anything for granted.

“We’re not going there for a day out to enjoy ourselves,” said the Sunderland boss. “Our attitude is very much that we’ve got to go and win at Wembley. It’s a game we want to win.

“The danger is that we’re playing a side from the league below, so there will be certain assumptions that go along with that. But we’re playing a team that are flying. They’re doing well in the league and they’ve got a really experienced squad.

“In fact, I bet there’s as many, if not more, Championship appearances in that Tranmere side than there is in ours. You’ve got (David) Nugent in there, (James) Vaughan, although he’s now injured, and players like (Jay) Spearing and (Liam) Feeney.

“These players are really experienced, and they can turn it on. This certainly isn’t going to be a walk in the park or a day we can just go into with the mindset of enjoying ourselves. We’ve got to be really focused on our performance, and making sure we do all the bits that go into that extremely well.”

Johnson is hoping a number of Sunderland’s senior players will put themselves in contention for a Wembley appearance as they step up their training schedule in the next 24 hours.

Despite his team having been in sparkling form recently, culminating in Tuesday’s impressive success at Fratton Park, the Black Cats boss will have to make changes for Sunday’s final.

Three members of the squad that claimed a 2-0 win at Portsmouth are ineligible for the Papa John’s final, with Dion Sanderson, Jake Vokins and Carl Winchester all having represented other clubs in this season’s competition.

However, while the absences of Sanderson and Winchester will be especially keenly felt given that they started against Pompey, Johnson has a long list of players queueing up to replace them.

Tom Flanagan made his return from injury as a second-half substitute on Tuesday and will be available to start at the weekend if required. Bailey Wright, Grant Leadbitter, Ross Stewart and Benji Kimpioka all trained yesterday, and depending how they react, the quartet could be available for Wembley duty.

Denver Hume, while training, is being lined up for a couple of Under-23 outings before he returns to the first-team fold, while Conor McLaughlin is not expected to begin training until later in the week and remains a major doubt for Wembley.

“The positive is that I’m taking a session (yesterday) and we will have five players in that session who hopefully won’t be too far away,” said Johnson.

“We had Tom coming back (at Portsmouth) which was a good one, we’ll have Bails training, Ross Stewart training, Denver Hume training, Grant Leadbitter training, and Benji Kimpioka training. We’ve got an embarrassment of riches, if you like.”