Shea ready for a huge month at Luton

The Hatters also face Peterborough, Southend and Portsmouth in the league, plus an FA Cup replay against Sheffield Wednesday, with Chelsea awaiting the winners.

Shea said: “It’s a big month, we’ve had a real busy period with Christmas games, stayed unbeaten through that and we know we’ve got some big games coming up.

“It was big game against Barnsley, a good point I thought, then we’ve got another big game at the weekend where we go again.

“We’ve got nothing to lose, we go up there, play the way we play and we see what happens.”

The stopper didn't believe that today's clash at the Stadium of Light is a must-win encounter for the visitors, despite a defeat meaning they would drop out of the top two.

He continued: "I don’t think it’s a must win for anyone.

"There's still a long way to go in the season, we want to go there, we want to try and win the game.

"I’m sure they’re going to try and win the game, whoever comes out on top, it doesn’t mean they’re going to finish above.

"There's still a long, long way to go, so we’ll just see what happens,

Meanwhile, striker Danny Hylton was relishing the encounter on Wearside, adding: "That’s why we wanted to get promoted, you want to play at the big stadiums against the big teams don’t you?

"There’s some fantastic games to look forward to and I’m sure the fans are going to enjoy it as well.

"We fancy our chances against anyone.

"We’ve come to a place, Hillsborough, they’ve paid us the respect and put out a strong team, and we’ve matched them, so we know we’re a good team,.

"We can match anyone on our day, so we go to Sunderland full of confidence."