Regis Le Bris is confident Sunderland will come up with the right formula during the international break to cope with a growing absentee list.
The Black Cats, despite two incredible goals, suffered a double blow against Coventry City in front of the biggest crowd of the season so far.
As well as allowing a two-goal lead slip to end up with a point, Sunderland players Trai Hume and Patrick Roberts both picked up their fifth yellow cards of the season.
That means the pair will be suspended for the trip to seventh-placed Millwall on November 23, leaving Le Bris with a couple of big selections decisions over two of his regulars.
There are also concerns for winger Romaine Mundle and Alan Browne after both were forced off early against Coventry through injury.
But Le Bris said: “We will need to find another set-up to work. The squad is ready to compete and find the best solution; it is always likely to happen in a long league. We have to use the depth of the squad.
“Many players will have opportunities to play and we have two weeks to find that solution and we are ready for the challenge.”
Sunderland will assess the fitness of Mundle, who helped to create both of his team’s goals against the Sky Blues, and Browne early this week before plotting a plan of action for the trip to The Den.
Whoever plays, though, Le Bris is keen to use the next two weeks to further improve a squad that sits at the top of the championship after 15 matches.
And that means working out just how Sunderland failed to win a game in which they had gone into halftime two goals to the good courtesy of Wilson Isidor and Dennis Cirkin’s brilliant finishes.
Le Bris said: “Every game is a new opportunity to learn. We will assess correctly what happened in this game; we will have two reviews this week.
“As a team, if we can connect the two or three little details to change the dynamic, it will make a big difference.
“We had the result at halftime. That wasn’t a lucky first half. We had the ability to play, and we got the goals. We are building our performances, but it wasn’t possible to continue that in the second half here. You could see the difference on the pitch; it is a question of distances and timing.
“We have to keep the consistency as a club, the coach, and the fans as well. It is a good start; we have had 31 points from 15 games, so we have shown we have quality, and now we want to show we can be more consistent. We will see what we can do for the next challenge.”
