Jack Ross insists he will not treat the final two games of the season as dead rubbers - insisting he will name his strongest team as long as there is even an outside chance that Sunderland can win automatic promotion.
The Black Cats visit Fleetwood Town tomorrow followed by a final day trip to Southend United on Saturday, and they need to win both games and hope that promotion rivals Luton Town, Barnsley, and Portsmouth all slip up, to have a possibility of finishing in the top two.
The more likely scenario is that Sunderland will have to take their chances in the play-offs, with a top six finish long since assured.
But rather than rest key men ahead of a potential play-off campaign, Ross will field a full-strength side at Highbury Stadium tomorrow - although he admits he could be forced into making some changes with several players suffering from minor knocks.
Sunderland's League One promotion campaign is heading for extra-time
"We have two or three concerns from the weekend, so we could be forced into a few changes," said Ross.
"They are not major injuries, but we might have to make changes tomorrow.
"That said, I won't be making unnecessary changes. The focus is very much on winning the next two games for a number of reasons.
"One, if we didn't do that and things did go the way we needed them to do [for automatic promotion] you can imagine what the reaction would be.
"And two, we want to finish the season with two wins to give ourselves the best chance of winning promotion in whichever way we can.
"There's a lot at stake for us.
"We have had a busy month and, as I have said, some players have played a lot of games and we have a couple of knocks, but we will look to play the strongest team we can in these last two matches."
One player who has been playing with a knock in recent weeks is winger and leading scorer Aiden McGeady , who broke a bone in his foot at the beginning of April.
He has had painkilling injections in order to continue playing a part and, after completing the full 90 minutes against Portsmouth on Saturday, Ross will make a late call on whether to play him at Fleetwood.
He said: "It's quite a quick turnaround Saturday-Tuesday, so we will see how he is.
"He won't play if there is any doubt either in his mind or my mind.
"We also have to take medical advice and make sure we don't do any damage to him.
"We'll look at it again tomorrow morning."
If Sunderland are to stand a chance of winning automatic promotion, not only will they need to win their remaining games and hope that their rivals lose, they would also have to overturn a goal difference deficit.
But Ross says the Black Cats cannot afford to go gung-ho in search of goals if it risks them dropping points which would end their challenge in any case.
He said: "No, we have to win the games to begin with - and that is not easy in itself.
"This season has shown just how competitive it is, not only in the games we have had but even if you look at the top of the table and see the teams trying to get over the line."
Sunderland would fancy their chances against anyone in the play-offs, says Jack Ross
