'Decisions to be made': Sunderland boss on what's next after woeful defeat

The Black Cats fell to a humiliating 6-0 defeat against Bolton Wanderers on Saturday afternoon, the fourth time they have conceded four or more goals on the road in League One this season.

Sunderland have two days to make further additions in the transfer marker, with the head coach saying on Friday that he would look to recruit in a 'couple' of positions if the right player was available.

He said he was 'more than happy' with the squad he had if not following four January additions.

Johnson was asked after the game if the scale of Sunderland's defeat and the manner of their performance had changed his thinking on that front.

Regardless of what happens before the window shuts at 11pm on Monday night, he said there would be significant soul-searching in the aftermath of the defeat.

"I think all the information that you get has an effect on what you do, simple as that," he said.

"We had some new players come on today which is important [moving forward]. Patrick Roberts showed his quality in a couple of flashes, and Jack Clarke has had our best and probably only quality chance of the game.

"The difficult thing for me is going to be selecting the team in the next game.

"It is going to have to be very different to that one in some way, but at the same time a lot of these boys have put us in a good position leading up to this game.

"So there is going to be a lot of soul-searching, a lot of decisions to be made.

"I can only apologise for that performance today."

Sunderland are hopeful that Bailey Wright could return to bolster the squad next week, with the Australian defender returning to training on Friday after a recent calf strain.

Alex Pritchard will also be in contention to return to the starting XI after coming off the bench on Saturday following a similar injury in recent weeks.

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