LEE JOHNSON accepts it is “a risk” for Sunderland to be involved in so many cup competitions, but the Black Cats boss remains confident his squad is deep enough to cope with the demands currently being made of it.

Sunderland return to action at Loftus Road this evening as they take on QPR in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, having already won at Port Vale, Blackpool and Wigan in this season’s competition.

Wins over Lincoln and Manchester United Under-21s mean Johnson’s side have also qualified for the knockout stages of the Papa John’s Trophy, while Sunderland’s FA Cup campaign begins a week on Saturday when they host Mansfield Town in the first round.

By the end of this evening’s game, the Wearsiders will have played 19 matches in the opening two-and-a-half months of the season, but while Johnson accepts the scale of the workload comes with risks attached, he expects his side to be able to cope.

“There’s no doubt there’s a risk (to being in so many cup competitions),” said the Sunderland head coach. “It’s a fact. The lads are running a half-marathon a week at the moment, basically, especially with the intensity we want to play at. So, we have to use our squad.

“I thought we did maybe lack a little bit of energy against Charlton (on Saturday). I did think we lacked a bit of zip in our legs, which is understandable given the travelling that we’ve done recently. Maybe that was the game that caught up with us.

“We definitely have the option to freshen it up and we need that, particularly because we’ve done well in the cups so far. There’s an FA Cup game on the horizon as well, and we want to be positive in that. We’ll have to manage it.”

Johnson will make changes this evening, as he has in every round of the League Cup so far. Corry Evans, Leon Dajaku and Lynden Gooch are set to start, having come off the bench during the second half of Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat to Charlton, while Bailey Wright and Frederik Alves are expected to form Sunderland’s centre-half pairing, having been unused substitutes against the Addicks.

Nathan Broadhead will be given every chance to prove his fitness ahead of the game at Loftus Road, with Johnson insistent that shuffling the squad does not necessarily mean a dilution of quality.

“We’ll have to have a look at it in terms of the team,” he added. “We want to win the game, but we have a really tough run ahead and we’re going to need everybody.”

Sunderland suffered their first home defeat of the season as they went down to Charlton at the weekend, and while the Carabao Cup is not the number one priority, Johnson is looking for a positive reaction to the weekend setback when his side lines up in West London this evening.

This season’s other two defeats, against Burton and Portsmouth, were followed by victories in Sunderland’s next game, and while tonight’s match sees the Black Cats taking on Championship opposition, Johnson wants to see some of tonight’s starters influencing his team selection for Saturday’s return to league duty at Rotherham.

“We’ve got to step up,” he said. “It’s going to be a really tough week with two really tough games. We need to believe in ourselves, and I think we have a group that does trust in each other.

“We’ll be objective when we look back at the Charlton game, and they’ll know the bits where they could have done better, and that happens. Charlton deserved that win, and we have to be really honest, and what it does is sharpen your pencil for when you have to make those big decisions in future.”

Sunderland (probable, 4-2-3-1): Burge; Winchester, Alves, Wright, Hume; Evans, Neil; Gooch, Pritchard, Dajaku; Stewart.