Sunderland v Northampton

Teemu Tainio and George McCartney will miss Sunderland's Carling Cup third round tie with Northampton.
Finland international midfielder Tainio injured his shoulder in the Wearsiders' 2-0 defeat of Middlesbrough on Saturday and is not available, while left-back McCartney is cup-tied after playing in West Ham's 4-1 win over Macclesfield in the previous round.

Michael Chopra, who replaced Tainio just before half-time on Saturday and went on to scored twice in the second half, has shaken off a dead leg and will be in Sunderland's squad but striker Kenwyne Jones (knee) and goalkeeper Darren Ward (back) remain on Roy Keane's injury list.

Keane admits he is desperate to improve on his poor cup record since going into management.

The Sunderland boss oversaw his first cup victory four weeks ago, when the Black Cats won 2-1 at Nottingham Forest in the second round of the Carling Cup.

The man who won 12 cups as a player - aside from his eight league championship medals at Manchester United and Celtic - is now hoping to take Sunderland to the later stages of one competition he failed to win during his illustrious playing career.

Keane, three times a League Cup final loser with United (1994 and 2003) and Forest (1992), did not get his managerial cup record off to the best of starts with three straight defeats.

Indeed, it was last season's Carling Cup defeat at Luton which particularly bugs Keane.

And after winning four FA Cup winners' medals and the Champions League as a player with United - and the Scottish League Cup with Celtic) - he says Sunderland need to develop a winning habit.

"The defeat at Luton last season still sticks in my throat, it was a huge disappointment, as well as losing to Wigan in the FA Cup,'' admitted Keane, whose side beat Middlesbrough 2-0 in the league on Saturday.

"There needs to be an improvement. We want to win as many games as possible. We want to win every game, whether it's Middlesbrough or Northampton, and I have a big squad of players to use.

"There's always a nice reaction when you win a game of football - there's certainly a buzz around the place after Saturday's result and it helped because it was a cracking game.

"But we have to be focused on tomorrow night now. We have to forget about the Aston Villa match on Saturday and concentrate only on Northampton, give them the respect they deserve.''

Keane believes Sunderland should look to emulate other clubs who have reaped the rewards of an extended run in cup competitions.

Middlesbrough's Carling Cup win of 2004 catapulted them into European football for the first time in their history, while Blackburn and Tottenham have also lifted the Carling Cup in recent seasons, not to mention Cardiff and winners Portsmouth reaching the FA Cup Final last season.

"There has been evidence over the years that this competition can be great for clubs and with the home draw we've got to see ourselves in the hat for the next round,'' said Keane.

"A lot of decent teams were knocked out in the last round and they would love to be in our shoes and in the third round, we have to make the most of it.

"There's still a very long way to go in the competition. Some of the big boys have joined at this round and we'll hopefully have to come up against them later down the line, but that will be harder again.

"A good cup run creates a buzz around a football club. There have been arguments for and against this competition over the years, but the big plus for me is just being in the next round.

"Winning football games is always a plus. We managed to get through a tough game in the last round at Nottingham Forest.''

Northampton manager Stuart Gray will be without on-loan striker Karl Hawley.

Hawley is cup-tied having appeared for parent club Preston in the competition already this season so Leon Constantine could come back into the side alongside Adebayo Akinfenwa.

Akinfenwa was the hero in the last round as his brace saw the Cobblers record a famous win at Bolton but Gray's side have failed to win since.

Captain Chris Doig is definitely out as he struggles to return from a groin injury but Gray has no other injury concerns.

His biggest selection dilemma is whether to keep faith with rookie goalkeeper Chris Dunn at the Stadium of Light.

The 20-year-old has been handed the gloves since the club-record sale of Mark Bunn to Blackburn last month but he made a horrendous error in the defeat at Huddersfield on Saturday so Frank Fielding could come in for his debut.