The very honest Sunderland message from Tony Mowbray ahead of 'reset' World Cup break

The head coach is looking forward to having a host of key players back following a chance to ‘reset’ in that break, and knows the importance of putting some points on the board before then: "We have got four left with three away from home, it feels difficult on the back of back-to-back defeats.

“It feels like a ‘come on lads, let’s find a way’. No one gives you an easy game, there is no easy game.

“I’m fully aware that for the opposition we are playing there are no easy games, we are Sunderland and we're a difficult game for anyone. But we have to try and find a way to keep a clean sheet and score a goal. Or to play well and win convincingly.

“On paper, the next four games look pretty tough. Away from home, it's not easy but we should look forward to it and I’ve got to keep giving them confidence and belief.

“I genuinely feel the performance level, there are not many that I think were poor apart from the second half [against Burnley]. We’ve been very competitive in all of the games and playing without strikers so it’s not always easy to be 2-0 up at half-time.

“That’s classic evidence that you can be 2-0 up at half-time and still lose a football match so we have to keep believing, keep sticking together and what good players we’ve got.

"We have to, as time rolls, give our supporters a team they believe is going to win every week. I've done a few fan's forums over recent weeks and people seem pretty supportive of the project, the journey that we're on coming out of League One.

"No one wants to be looking over their shoulder looking at the relegation spots, and I'm pretty confident we can avoid that scenario. We've got talent and particularly when the players we're missing come back, we can really look forward to the challenge.

"There'll be the odd day where we disappoint but I'm confident there'll be days where we're sat here buzzing, won back-to-back, not far off the top six etc and that's what we have to aim for, to look up and be positive."

Though the potential involvement of Ellis Simms is a major boost, Mowbray knows on home turf Luton will severely test the current lack of physicality in his side: "We expect a really tough game, they are a really different proposition at home in my opinion.

"They are a real threat to anyone, particularly at home where they have taken some big scalps.

“Nathan Jones teams are always 100% maximum full throttle every game. You have to be ready for that sort of confrontation. I feel as if they are also really upgrading their group of players as well, I've felt that over the years I've been going with Blackburn

“We have to play our game and make sure they don’t turn it into a game that they may be physically better and stronger than us.

“We’ve got to make sure that with the ball we are very good and we give them problems.”