Kevin Ball is confident he is able to fulfil the role of caretaker Sunderland manager with the second time of asking. It had been to the 48-year-old development coach that owner Ellis Short turned after dispensing with the services of Paolo Di Canio on Sunday night, and also the former Black Cats midfielder took power over training on Monday morning.
Ball filled the role for 10 games in 2006 following Mick McCarthy's departure, so that as he prepared the squad for Tuesday night's Capital One Cup third-round clash with Peterborough, he hasn't been fazed through the prospect.
Ball's first task ended up being to re-group after an eventful weekend which saw Di Canio shown the threshold within the wake of a 3-0 Barclays Premier League defeat at West Brom which left the club rooted towards foot of the table.
He was quoted saying: "The immediate priority only agreed to be to completely meet the players, talk with players, get them, have a very session with these. However, Ball left his players in little doubt in regards to what he expects of them within the pitch from a demoralising begin to the summer season.
Some-2 victory over MK Dons within the last round remains Sunderland's only success thus far this season, and a repeat might no less than increase confidence for Sunday's visit of Liverpool towards Stadium of Light.
Peterborough is sure to do without Mark Little and Nathaniel Knight-Percival. Both players were shown straight red cards during Saturday's Sky Bet League One enlighten MK Dons - Knight-Percival for an elbow and Little for the nasty-looking challenge - so both players will serve the initial match with their respective three-game bans.
Last weekend's win came ahead of time for Danny Kearns when he never endure a knock and the midfielder will probably be assessed again before the trip.
Grant McCann, Gabriel Zaukani and Kgosi Ntlhe are all pushing for starts and may feature as Posh boss Darren Ferguson ponders replacements for his suspended duo.
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