Shrewsbury Town striker reveals the key to beating Sunderland ahead of League One clash

But Cummings, who has previously been linked in Sunderland, believes Sam Ricketts’ side will have to be at their best to beat one of the third tier’s ‘big hitters’.

“Against Sunderland, I feel like we just need to be a bit better in the final third with our final pass,” he admitted.

“We’ve not really conceded many goals either, so that’s a positive.

“They’re one of the big hitters in the league so they’re going to be good.

“We’re expecting a good team and they’ve got good players as well, so we need to bring our A game.

“It’d be massive [if Shrewsbury won]. Obviously we want to win every game, at home as well we need to make that a fortress and win every game.”

Meanwhile, Jordan Wiilis believes securing Sunderland’s first clean sheet of the league campaign is ‘massive’ - and has challenged his side to continue their momentum.

The Black Cats’ 5-0 win over Tranmere Rovers on Tuesday evening saw them end a run of back-to-back defeats - and Willis is keen to see Sunderland build on that result when they travel to Shrewsbury Town.

Indeed, the centre back is hoping for another shutout after Phil Parkinson’s side secured a first clean sheet of the season - a feat which isn’t lost on Willis.

“It’s massive and it’s something we have been speaking about since the start of the season,” he said, speaking to safc.com.

“We have struggled with it, but we got our first on Tuesday and hopefully that can be the start of many more.

“It’s always going to be a massive boost when you score five goals at home.

“Hopefully the lads can continue that, and we can build from it going forward,” he continued.

“Any positive result puts you in a good position going into the next game.

“We will continue to work on things we need to improve on because we want to continue winning games and playing well.”