The two Sunderland youngsters set to be handed a major chance

Anthony Patterson and Dion Sanderson are set to be handed a major opportunity to impress Lee Johnson at Oldham Athletic tonight.

Johnson is set to select a strong side for the Papa John’s Trophy clash, as he looks to embed some of his playing ideas and secure a first win in eight games for the Black Cats.

There will nevertheless be one or two squad players given a chance to stake their claim for league minutes.

“I'm looking forward to seeing Anthony Patterson,” Johnson said.

“I wanted to see him play in goal because I've heard a lot of good things about him, so he's going to start.

“The boy Sanders on, I saw a lot last year at Cardiff (City) where he did extremely well so it will be good to get him again. He will start.

“It's then, effectively, a pretty strong side.

“A id enMcG eady we' ve got to be careful with, given that he hasn't played a lot of minutes.

“So this one we might just use him off the bench to top up his minutes so he is ready for the Saturday.”

Johnson will understandably prioritise League One competition this season, and a crucial game away at high-flying Lincoln City this Saturday looms large.

The 39-year-old nevertheless has Wembley ambitions, having left Barnsley before getting the chance to lead them out at Wembley in this competition previously.

For now, though, the game’ s primary purpose is to build confidence and above all else, cohesion.

"It's always a tricky one when the priority is the league and let's not make any mistake about that ,” Johnson said.

“But it's also a great competition to win.

“We reached the final when I was at Barnsley before I moved on to Bristol City, and it was frustrating not being able to coach at Wembley.

“For the big clubs who've got a bit of depth to their squad, I think it' s a good one.

“No disrespect to Oldham or the game, but also for us it's almost an extended training schedule to really bed in the principles that we' re trying to get across really quickly to the players.”

Kick off is at 6 pm this evening.