SUNDERLAND boss Regis Le Bris could opt to tinker with his backline for tomorrow's visit of Luton Town, with Dan Ballard pushing hard for his first Championship start since returning from injury.

Ballard replaced Chris Mepham late on against Watford at the weekend, with Le Bris admitting afterwards that he felt physicality had been an issue for his side against the Hornets.

Having come through a bruising encounter with Luton at Kenilworth Road earlier this season, the Black Cats know they'll face another physical test at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday night, which could tempt Le Bris to make a change in defence.

One option is to hand Ballard his first league start since mid-December alongside Mepham at centre-half and move Luke O'Nien over to left-back in place of Dennis Cirkin, who had a poor game against Watford last time out.

Le Bris was understandably reluctant to give too much away when quizzed on Ballard, but said: "That's a problem for the coach and it's a good problem.

"Ballard is in a very good place. He didn't play a lot for the last couple of weeks but he's still involved and it's very important for the team spirit and we know we need competition to push everyone in the team.

"At the same time, if one player is struggling a little bit we have another one ready to play. I have a good question to solve and it's good for the performance of the team."

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If Le Bris did opt to change his defence, or any other areas of his team against Luton, he says the players would understand.

"They are smart, they have a shared goal, not an individual goal," he said.

"You need maturity to understand that. Sometimes you can be mature at 17 and some other players might not have maturity at 30 or 34. Here in the dressing room the ideas are very clear. It's my job and they can understand my way of working."

As Sunderland proved in their win at Kenilworth Road earlier this season, they can handle physical and imposing sides, but Le Bris felt a lack of organisation proved costly against Watford.

He said: "I don't know if it's a weakness or just a question of style. You have a different style of play and have to have the players to play a certain way.

"When we have to face teams who have big physical attributes sometimes we can struggle. But at the same time we have the potential and the solutions in the team to solve many problems against this kind of team.

"Against Watford we lost a bit of our organisation. The game at Luton we were really well organised and from that foundation it was important to fight. We did it properly but if it's one vs one everyone on the pitch it's not our main strength."