Jack Ross on the loan market and why injuries could force him to act before the window shuts

With Aiden McGeady, Charlie Wyke and Dylan McGeouch all missing on Saturday, the Sunderland boss named a number of youngsters on the bench for the 2-1 win over Charlton Athletic.

Already low on numbers, his concerns were compounded when Jerome Sinclair came off the field with a hamstring problem.

The severity of the injury will be assessed in the coming days but Sinclair was visibly frustrated as he came off the pitch, punching the Stadium turf.

A gloomy prognosis could force Ross to act as he waits for Wyke to return.

The club are also likely to focus on moving on the last of their Premier League earners, with a solution for the absentee pair Didier Ndong and Papy Djilobodji a high priority.

Ross said: “Possibly a couple more outs, then we may have to assess the injury situation.

“Assess Jerome’s hamstring injury, the seriousness of that. That will leave us light in forward areas because we already were.

“Even today when you look at the bench it was all academy players, even though Jerome is young and Bryan obviously has experience.

“I would expect there will be a little more movement but I wanted this out the way first and then maybe have a look.”

Sunderland could also return to the loan market for both incoming and outgoing deals.

Lee Cattermole, who was left out of the squad entirely for tactical reasons, is on Hull City’s radar.

While the window for permanent deals shuts on Thursday, clubs can loan players until the end of the month.

Ross admits that will take some pressure off this week as he seeks to finalise his squad for the coming months.

“The loan window does give you the extra option. It’s nice to know when we get beyond the window that we have that bit of extra time to try to do a few things.

Stewart Donald told Sky Sports shortly before kick-off on Saturday that he expected a couple of ins and outs this week.