Sunderland AFC news: Transfer latest as Cats chase striker deal plus team news ahead of Rotherham fixture

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Tony Mowbray’s pre-match press conference ahead of Sunderland’s Championship fixture against Rotherham.

The Black Cats boss is set to speak to the media at 1pm, and we’ll have live updates from the Academy of Light.

Stick around and refresh the page for the latest SAFC news.

We'll start with the Sunderland team news - and there’s still a lengthy injury list.

Ross Stewart, Corry Evans, Aji Alese and Jay Matete all remain sidelined, while new signing Eliezer Mayenda has a hamstring injury.

Elliot Embleton and Jenson Seelt have returned to training but aren't expected to be available until next month.

Lynden Gooch could return after missing the Carabao Cup match against Crewe and game at Preston with a minor hamstring issue.

Chris Rigg is set to miss this weekend’s match after he was forced off with concussion playing for the under-21s side on Monday.

We’ll get a further update from Mowbray later today.

Sunderland are still pushing to strengthen their forward line in the final two weeks of the transfer window.

“There’s time, and we have to get it right and not just get any old footballer,” said Mowbray ahead of last weekend’s match at Preston. “We’re working hard, and hopefully we’ll have the right.”

While reinforcements up front is the priority, Sunderland are also looking to bolster their central midfield options, with Evans and Matete out injured.

“The midfield area is quite light if you think that there’s Dan Neil, Pierre Ekwah, and then Jobe - after that you are into Chris Rigg, who is a 16-year-old boy,” said Mowbray last weekend.

“It’s an area that maybe we should be looking at.

“I think the reality is that we have to get the front end of the pitch sorted out first but we are mindful that we are a bit light in there.”

He added: “It’s an area that potentially we might look for a more experienced footballer to help the area out. Dan (Neil) is 21, Pierre (Ekwah) is 21 - it’s not as if they are 26 or 27 and have 300 appearances under their belts.”

Mowbray has also admitted players could leave Sunderland before the end of the window, with senior players Danny Batth, Alex Pritchard and Lynden Gooch attracting interest.

All three have just a year left on their Black Cats contracts and haven’t been named in the starting XI for the side’s first two league games.

“Listen, the question is a difficult one for me to answer,” said Mowbray when asked about the trio last week.

“I’ve been in football a long time and I understand how squads need a balance of experienced players - and I do think it’s different for all of them, really.

“Some of it might be about how much of your budget you’re going to commit to someone who might not be playing [regularly]. And some of it, players have outlays - cars, mortgages etc and when you get to the last year of your contract you start wanting to negotiate a new one. If you then hit an impasse... it seems like that to me.

“As you’ve suggested to me there, I’m only really interested in what happens on the grass,” he added.

“So when we’re playing Luton away, I would prefer Danny Batth right in the middle there, heading the ball out of the box. But if you get to an impasse where there isn’t a new contract offer that’s suitable, and we’re seeing what else out there... but as I’ve said if there’s no sale when the window shuts then they’re here and part of it, and I’m sure you can ask me a different question then about their availability. At this moment, I’m just respectful of the players. I like them all and they did exceptionally well for the club last year in different roles.”

“Discussions I think is the best way to say movement, because we’re not hiding anyone down the corridor to bring him out and take the pictures. There are plenty of conversations.

“These are never easy to do deals, the closer you seem to get to them a bit more comes on and that wasn’t what we discussed.

“I’m pretty hopeful and confident, whether I’m confident for Saturday is another question, but I’m confident we will add before this window shuts.”

“I think the market, skewing it all up a little bit. If we are having £115million footballers right at the top level, is it skewing everything below that? Maybe.

“We are not out there spending never mind 10s, 20s or 30s, we’re not spending 5s.

“I think at the level we’re working, potentially the deals we’re going to do might be loan deals.

“The conundrum of course is if you get down to the last day or two there are probably some amazing loan deals to be done out of the Premier League once they have got their signings sorted and them peripheral players become available. And yet if you’ve spent your money because you’re trying to do it early you can’t bring them ones in on the last day.

“It’s a dangerous scenario to think let’s sit here until the last day and pick up the best loans from the Premier League.”

“We obviously get judged on results.

“People tell me don’t worry, the XG is this and the XG is that, you should be sitting fourth in the league. It’s irrelevant to me, we have to find a way to win, I’ve always said that.

“When Ross Stewart first got his injury we were playing without a striker, and then Ellis went back, you have to find a way to win.

“I don’t want to sit here and say we haven’t got any strikers, we can’t win a game. We did enough winning of games last season without any strikers.

“We have to keep trying to mix the jigsaw up with what we’ve got to find the answers to get them in positions to score the goals to win us football matches.

“I’m probably more interested in making sure we keep a clean sheet somewhere along the line rather than scoring loads of goals. There’s a conundrum we have to resolve quickly.”

“Chris Rigg has got concussion from the U21s game the other night, so he won’t be involved.

“Lynden Gooch is back in training and he’s looked alright, he’s been aggressive and urgent in training, he looks hungry. We’ve had Jenson Seelt and Elliot Embleton out doing the warm up with us but not joining in the full session just yet - we’re hopeful that could happen next week possibly, or the week after.

“Corry Evans is a good few months away yet but it’s good to see him starting his grass-based work, it’s been good to see him with his boots on, doing some of the basic work.

“We have to keep going with what we’ve got for now, and hopefully we will have some additions over the next few weeks. Once the season gets rolling, if we can keep our level of performance high then we should look forward to a good season.”

“I think it’s a dangerous game because there will be a perception of Rotherham at home, we’ll turn up and win that.

“What I see when I watch Rotherham is a really intense, out of possession closing down football team that have got threats when they get the ball in your box, and they break really quickly on you.

“They have some good legs in midfield and when they do win the ball back and get it forward they flood men forward quickly, and then they get everybody back behind the ball again and are really hard to break down.

“I would call it dangerous. I remember my first game was against Rotherham at home and Ross Stewart scored two one-touch finishes in and around the six-yard box. Jack Clarke went down the left, cut inside and scored and we won 3-0 in the end.

“I do sit here and think who is going to score them type of goals for us. Is Bradley going to do that, is the winger off the other side going to come in and score a tap-in?

“I think Rotherham know their strengths, know what they’re all about as a football team. They won’t expect to come here and dominate possession of the ball, but they will come here expecting to come and give us problems.”