Tony Mowbray, the manager of Sunderland, acknowledged that his team is "in good spirits" before traveling to Luton for the second leg of their Championship Playoff Semifinal.
The Black Cats enter the game with a slim lead after winning the first leg 2-1 at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
Elijah Adebayo's close-range goal gave Luton the lead in the 11th minute, but Amad Diallo's astonishing equalizer and Trai Hume's goal in the second half restored their lead.
"I believe the squad is having fun. We believe we can compete against anyone in the league, as I have stated all season, Mowbray remarked at a press conference prior to the game.
This game is against Luton, who had a terrific season and have been developing their club for the previous three or four years. They finished third in the league, 11 points ahead of us.You can tell they have a bunch of players who are very seasoned and unified. "I think we did amazing to come out on top in the first game, and I am not anticipating too much difference in the second game," I stated at the most recent news conference. It is a more competitive climate, so we have to make an effort to act similarly. If anything, they might step up their game.
Tuesday night at Kenilworth Road, Sunderland will look to extend their lead. Mowbray urged his team to "enjoy the challenge" of playing the Hatters.
"Obviously (we've) been there this season," he continued, "and it feels like a tighter surface than the Stadium of Light. It is a tight ground.Although it will present us with a whole new challenge, we should welcome it, approach it with confidence, and relish the opportunity to play against a physically and athletically gifted team.
We have to focus on what we do well and see if we can cause them problems. If they execute their strategy correctly, they might cause us a lot of trouble.
Mowbray acknowledges he is unsure whether Alex Pritchard and Patrick Roberts will play, adding to the already stretched Sunderland team's injury issues.
Both players were taken off the field in the final ten minutes of the first leg, but Mowbray said that Aji Alese might still play after returning to training.
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