Dick Advocaat says Sunderland have every reason to be confident ahead of Sunday’s visit of Tottenham despite some key men remaining on the sidelines.

Adam Johnson, Adam Matthews, Jordi Gomez and Tom Beadling are all injured while on-loan DeAndre Yedlin cannot line-up against his parent club.

The Sunderland boss says he is still short of the ideal position as he chases a first league win of the season but he insists what he has available can get the job done.

“We are still four or five players short but we have a big squad so we can handle that,” Advocaat told the Sunderland website.

“Up front we have possibilities and in midfield we have possibilities so it looks good.”

Winger Johnson has resumed light training but will not be considered for Sunday’s Stadium of Light clash, while summer signing Matthews remains some way short of returning.

“Adam Johnson is training in parts of the sessions but not still in the man-to-man situations,” he said.
“Adam Matthews is out for six to eight weeks and Tom Beadling is also out for six to eight weeks after he had a small operation.”

Sunderland go into the weekend bottom of the Premier League table having taken only two points from their four games to date.

The Black Cats have conceded more goals than any other top flight side thus far although Advocaat will have taken some belief from the manner in which his players fought back for a 2-2 draw at Villa Park against Aston Villa two weeks ago.

Debutant Ola Toivonen impressed when coming on as a half-time substitute against Tim Sherwood’s side and could earn his first Sunderland start against Tottenham.

Sunderland are 4.20 to defeat Tottenham, with Mauricio Pochettino’s team 1.91 and the draw available at 3.50.