FOR opposing managers, having to deal with Jack Clarke must be troubling enough - and that's before you consider the other tricky talents who make up the Sunderland attack.

The focus for much of this season when it comes to Sunderland's forward line has been the struggles of the strikers but what the Black Cats might have lacked in firepower from their out and out frontmen, they've made up for in attacking threats from deep.

And now, head coach Michael Beale faces something of an intriguing challenge in the weeks ahead - how on earth does he get the best out of them all?

Clarke's class speaks for itself and Sunderland's form man is the first name on the teamsheet out on the left flank. But elsewhere across the attack, Beale has options. Exciting ones at that. Patrick Roberts returned to the starting XI for Saturday's win over Plymouth, with Abdoullah Ba moved inside. As if that wasn't enough for Plymouth's backline to deal with, Jobe Bellingham then stepped off the bench to score a stunner and January signing Romaine Mundle was also introduced with fresh legs and a clear eagerness to impress.

Bellingham has been a key man all season, Ba is playing well, Roberts will look to kick on after returning from injury, Mundle will get better with minutes and Bradley Dack will soon be back in contention - so who misses out?

The answer, according to Beale, is nobody. Rotation is to be expected, starting on Wednesday night at Huddersfield (7.45pm) where Sunderland are looking to extend their unbeaten stretch to four games, and substitutes, says the head coach, are just as important as starters.

"It's interesting with Paddy and players like that, because they want to be on the pitch when the game opens up in the last 25 minutes or so," said Beale.

"If he was to start (at Huddersfield) it might be Abdoullah who is on during that spell, it might be a Jobe. Someone like Paddy, if we can get him 1-v-1, we want to feed these guys early because the more we can do that and play with 1-v-1, I think we're a team with more options than one or two others.

"We lost Paddy in the first 20 minutes in my third game and there's been a lot of football played since then where we've not had that extra option. Now all of a sudden we've got Paddy back, Abdoullah and Romaine, Callum Styles back in training, hopefully Bradley back before long.

"It enables us to play with the same intensity for 90 minutes and it's about giving the opposition other problems to solve. I'm not sure Plymouth would have guessed our starting XI and that's important, adding something a little bit different to keep other teams guessing."

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Against Plymouth, Beale was bold in starting Clarke, Ba and Roberts behind Nazariy Rusyn but it'll be horses for courses in the weeks ahead.

"I just felt that at the weekend, we knew that at times Plymouth would sit deep with a back five and four in front, so I just wanted to get three dribblers on the pitch, and Naz's movement was good," said Beale.

"We're learning how to use that and at times the timing of his (Rusyn's) runs could be better, but we felt that in the 1-v-1 moments we felt those three could be dangerous - and then we knew we had Romaine to come on as well.

"I thought Abdoullah found it difficult in the first half, we moved him slightly wider in the second and then ultimately Jobe came on and scored from that position. The idea in principle was right to overload that side, and I think they are going to have to find a way to play together if they're going to play.

"They've got to learn that they're stronger together and play in combinations, I think if you're a right-sided defender and you have to come up against Jack and Abdoullah, it becomes very difficult to double up on Jack, so we're looking at different options all the time. They all want to be in the team so we have to find the balance, and I'm really pleased with Romaine who has shown that he has got a part to play.

"It's really good to have Paddy back, we of course have to manage his minutes in the next two games because we don't want a relapse of his injury. So Abdoullah could easily go back to the right on Wednesday night, for example."

A trip to Birmingham on Saturday follows the Huddersfield game.

Beale said: "There's likely to be a couple of changes for both games. First and foremost you deal with the game in front of you and recover. It's two away games and so we've got to recover really well, make sure we bring our A game on Wednesday night but then again just a couple of days later.

"They're two different opponents but their need is as great as ours in their own situation, so it's important that we pick the right team tactically and then make the right subs. You need different qualities because the game changes over 90 minutes, and in the last couple I think we've just about got it right."