Sunderland signed Jayden Danns on deadline day despite discovering a back injury during the medical process

Kristjaan Speakman says it was the right decision for Sunderland to proceed with a loan deal for Jayden Danns despite the striker's medical revealing a back injury that will require a period rest.

Sunderland at this stage don't know when Danns will be able to return to action, and the 19-year-old has for the time being returned to Liverpool for the initial stage of his recovery. Sunderland's sporting director explained that the youngster had only become available at the end of the window, and that alternatives when the club discovered Danns's injury were therefore scarce.

Both Liverpool and the Black Cats are at this stage confident that he should be able to play a part in the run-in, and that this will give head coach Régis Le Bris valuable depth. Speakman added that the pursuit of a new striker through the January window had been a difficult one with both Wilson Isidor and Eliezer Mayenda in such good form.

"Jayden was a player we really wanted to sign and it was just really unfortunate, at the very end we uncovered something," Speakman said.

"He was fully training, playing... but now he's going to have rest for a period of time. When it comes at a very late hour, it becomes very difficult for us to find an alternative. We had a really good discussion with Liverpool about the way forward and he can hopefully come and join us at some stage. For us it wasn't just about adding numbers to the group, it was about quality and personality. Jayden met both of that criteria.

"Players have to have the physical, technical and tactical qualities to fit into the way we play. For players that are available in January, what they are seeking first and foremost most of the time is game time. We have a nine who is performing really, really and another nine in Eliezer who has played in some different positions and also has an incredible record with goal contributions this season. Finding someone comfortable coming into that setting isn't easy, because I can understand [their point of view] when they know they won't be the number one choice from day one. And I don't think there is any doubt that Wilson deserves to be the number one choice.

"Ultimately the player [we sign] has got to come and contribute, and they've got to fit in," Speakman said.

"To find all of that is difficult when we have two really, really good centre forwards. So at the minute, we felt that we've added what was the ideal player in Jayden. So there's obvious disappointment that Jayden is going to be unavailable initially, but that's sometimes how it goes in a transfer window. That's why you have the tests, to pick up these things. Unfortunately there are a lot of decisions made in the last segment of the transfer window, and that doesn't leave you with a lot of room to manoeuvre when you discover some information that you didn't previously know."

It’s understood that there are no financial obligations for Sunderland while Danns is recovering from his injury, with the Black Cats hopeful that he’ll return to play a vital part in the push for promotion.

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