Tony Mowbray insists attack is the best form of defence as Sunderland head to Luton looking to seal a place in the Championship play-off final at Wembley. The Black Cats travel to Kenilworth Road tomorrow with a narrow first-leg advantage, having come from behind to win 2-1 at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
And with Sunderland's squad ravaged by a catalogue of injuries, it will essentially be a case of all-hands on deck as Mowbray tries to assemble a cohesive team from the players he has available. Sunderland have operated without a proper centre-forward for half the season, while they completed the run-in and went into the play-offs without any specialist centre-backs.
There was some good news on the defensive front with central defender Aji Alese set to be included in the squad, although he is not ready to start after more than two months out, however there are doubts over two of Sunderland's attacking threats with Patrick Roberts and Alex Pritchard both coming off injured in the first leg and rated only 'touch and go' for the second. Mowbray does not have the luxury of being able to set his team up to defend even if he had wanted to, and he says the Wearsiders' best chance of reaching Wembley is to go to Luton and try to win the second leg.
READ MORE: Aji Alese could be involved in Sunderland's play-off game at Luton but doubts persist over key duo
"I think we did amazingly well to come out on top in the first game," said Mowbray. "I'm not anticipating too much different tomorrow.
"It's a tighter environment, of course, and if anything Luton might double down on what they do, on how they play. We have to try and do the same, really.
"As I've said all season, we don't have a Plan B like putting a quick guy up top and turning them round all the time. We'll play as we play and we'll try to create opportunities.
"We'll be going to try and win, and be positive and play our game."
The lack of options brings a certain clarity to the situation from Mowbray's point of view, but he says it also means Luton will know what to expect. "The opposition know that as well, of course," he said of Sunderland's lack of a Plan B.
"I'm very conscious about talking about tactics because the opposition manager will take note of what I'm saying too, I'm pretty sure. He'll know - they are pressing high, pushing six men up against our goal-kicks and making us kick long. To who? To a 5ft 8in centre-forward, to a 5ft 6in winger.
"So it can focus the opposition on what they have to do. The challenge for us is to play through that press and create chances, which we have generally been able to do."
While Sunderland will not change their approach, the fact that Luton are behind in the tie will mean that they cannot sit back and that might mean there are gaps that the Black Cats can exploit. Mowbray said: "It should suit us. But it won't suit us if they keep banging the ball into our box and they keep winning the first contact and keep scrambling around and we have to hook it away because it is too chaotic to pick a pass to get us away.
"I genuinely sit here and think 'let's go and try and play our game, under the pressure, in the heat'. Let's try and get the first pass away, let's try and get control.
"But that's easier said than done in the chaos of a match on a tight pitch with the crowd screaming at you from a few yards away. We have to be brave enough to put our foot on the ball, pick a pass, and ease the pressure.
"It's a good game for their careers, these younger players, to see if they can cope with it. What will be, will be."
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