Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris has indicated some changes in his starting lineup tonight, ahead of the Black Cats' Carabao Cup tie at home to Brentford.

While speaking to the Sunderland Echo, Le Bris hinted at some changes to his lineup tonight, but claims that Sunderland still want to progress in the competition. He said:

"We'll see how many changes we make,"

"It's important because I believe that you need experiences in strong competitions to get better so we'll take this game like this. It won't be a friendly game at all, we want to win it with the players available and to get ready for the next fixture in the Premier League against Coventry."

A Start for Talbi?

The Frenchman hinted at a start for Moroccan winger Chemsdine Talbi, who has not featured much for the Black Cats this season, despite his audacious dink in the Third Round against Hull City.

Talbi earned his first minutes in the Premier League since the first game of the season last Sunday against Leeds United.

"Yeah, the list is less restrictive for the Carabao Cup so we'll have more players available," Le Bris said.

"We'll take it with a strong mindset. We want to be competitive in this competition as well. It's going to be a good opportunity for our players to get minutes."

The Moroccan has been a huge talking point on Wearside in the last few weeks, as Sunderland continue their recent struggles in front of goal.

Le Bris hinted at Talbi's involvement in a potential move away from the club last summer as a reason for his non-selection, however the 21 year old's involvement last Sunday showed the Frenchman's commitment to using Talbi in his future plans.

Managing The Load:

Le Bris has been confronting a different type of challenge this season.

Last season, the goal was to grind out results and stay in the Premier League, and some would argue the Wearsiders did too good a job of it.

Now, because of that stellar overachievement, Sunderland now have to think more strategically and manage their thin squad while navigating the Premier League, Europa League, and the two domestic cup competitions.

"It's a new challenge managing Premier League, Europa League, Carabao Cup, the schedule is busy," he said.

"We are new in this journey, Premier League and Europa League of course, so we still need to learn and I think I really enjoy this period.

"When it's tough you see who is connected with the club, with the project, and I see many players, the coaching staff, the club, we'll embrace the challenge.

"We know that it's tough but we'll learn and we'll get better through this challenge."

Should the Black Cats draw tonight, luckily for Le Bris, it is straight to penalties, and there will be not much more physical load on his already drained players.

If Sunderland win tonight, they will find out their next opponents for the quarter final after all matches on Sky Sports tonight.