SUNDERLAND return to the scene of one of their greatest recent triumphs this evening, with striker Daryl Murphy claiming that the memory of lifting the Championship trophy will spur his team-mates to achieve similar success in this season's Carling Cup.

The Black Cats kick-off their cup campaign at Luton, less than four months after their last visit to Kenilworth Road ended in a 5-0 victory that saw them crowned Championship champions.

The memories of that sunny May day refuse to fade, and Murphy admits that the remaining members of Sunderland's title-winning side occasionally discuss the events of the final few weeks of last season.

But the Irishman insists that his team-mates do not want their celebrating to stop there. The Black Cats failed to win a single match in a cup competition last season, and Murphy is hoping that a return to a happy hunting ground will kick-start a more successful run this term.

"It's always nice to go back to a ground where you've had success," said the striker, who scored Sunderland's second and third goals on the final day of last season. "We have fond memories of going there, winning the league and putting on a good show.

"We know what's needed when you go there, and it's important that we make the most of that because we need to get a good cup run going this time.

"It's always nice to do well in the cups. The fans love it, but last year wasn't great for us because we got knocked out quite early in both competitions. We need to improve on that and it would be great to go on a bit of a run."

Luton might hold nothing but good memories for the majority of the Sunderland squad, but Murphy's view of this evening's opponents is mixed after he underwent an unsuccessful spell at Kenilworth Road four years ago.

Having failed to settle in England, the 24-year-old returned to his native Ireland and continued his career with Waterford.

He moved on again when Mick McCarthy shelled out £100,000 to sign him for Sunderland and, while he hardly remembers his time at Luton with any enjoyment, he admits he might not have prospered on Wearside had he not endured such an early test of his character.

"It gave me a rough idea of what it was like, and what I should expect if I ever got a chance to come over second time around," said Murphy. "It wasn't a great experience, but it helped me.

"To be honest, I think that going home was the best thing I ever did. I played regularly, I was happy to be playing back at home, and it made me refocus my efforts on getting a second chance.

"I always thought I would get another shot, and I was absolutely determined to make a success of it if I did. Thankfully, that's exactly what's happened."

While other managers might use the Carling Cup to make wholesale changes to their side, Sunderland's escalating injury problem means that Murphy is likely to be involved in the squad tonight as Roy Keane finds that his hands are tied.

Kieran Richardson joined an absentee list that already includes Dean Whitehead and Carlos Edwards when he injured his back in Saturday's 2-0 defeat to Liverpool, and Paul McShane will be rested to protect the head wound he sustained at Wigan.

"There certainly won't be any squad rotation," said Keane, who is expected to complete the capture of Southampton striker Kenwyne Jones and free agent Ian Harte within the next 24 hours. "We're not in a position to do that, in fact I might get my boots back on myself.

"We're not in any position to be messing about. There might be one or two lads come into it - people like Stan Varga and Graham Kavanagh - but it won't be wholesale changes."

New signing Andy Cole will not be involved having arrived on Wearside nursing a minor groin strain, and Keane has admitted that the former Manchester United striker is unlikely to be involved at Old Trafford this weekend.

"We're not going to be taking any silly chances," he said. "We don't have to be throwing him straight into it and expecting miracles.

"We'll see about the weekend, but when you go to Old Trafford, it's not really a great place to be testing players' fitness levels. Far from it."

Grant Leadbitter will start tonight's game, though, having made a 30-minute substitute appearance at the weekend, and Keane has claimed that the midfielder's powers of recovery are reminiscent of former United team-mate Paul Scholes.

"Grant's trained really well the last few days," he said. "It's great to see him back out on the training pitch because he's got great quality and he's enthusiastic. He reminds me of Paul Scholes in the way that he's straight into it without any messing about.

"He could have been out for six months and he still would have been one of the best players in his first game back.

"You saw that against Liverpool. Sometimes it's hard to get into a game when you come off the bench after you've been out for a while, but his sharpness and his first touch was there straight away.