Mel Reay gives Sunderland transfer update and looks ahead to FA Cup test at Birmingham

The Black Cats confirmed on Friday that Katy Watson had joined from the RTC, after Grace Boyes returned to the club from Middlesbrough last week.

Reay had also been targeting potential loan deals to bolster her ranks for the closing stages of the campaign, but admitted last week that they had fallen through.

Sunderland' s geographical position and part-time status has made recruitment a challenge in the mid-season period, hence why there were no deadline day additions from the WSL or other Championship clubs.

However, non-contracted players can sign at any time and the Black Cats remain in talks with players from the North East who could join.

Reay also outlined to The Echo what Boyes and Watson will add to her squad moving forward.

"We're trying really hard to continually add to the squad," Reay said.

"The transfer window has closed but some of the players that we're going after we can sign outside of that, so it's not over in terms of us trying to bring people in.

"We're still having conversations with players and waiting for them to make decisions. One of the hardest things is that it is a really big commitment.

"These people are from the north east but at the end of the day, it's kind of a professional environment you're asking them to come into. Away from the football, it's that professional lifestyle as well because you're up against some teams who are full time.

"It's a huge commitment so these players need to weigh up all their options because it's so time consuming to compete with the best.

"So it has to be right.

"We're not putting too much pressure on anyone because it's a big decision and they have to want it.

"With Grace, I've had her at Gateshead for three years and I've been steadily monitoring her progress," Reay added.

"She's earned the right to come back because she's worked extremely hard to get herself fit and she's been really good in training. "I've got no hesitation in chucking her in, she maybe just needed a little bit of time to get up to speed in terms of the intensity.

"With Katy, she's been in and out of our set up, balancing that with the RTC.

"We've signed Daisy [Burt] from the RTC as a defender, Grace [Ede] as a midfielder and Katy who is a forward. She has real pace, hits really good physical targets in terms of her speed which shows he can play at the level.

"They'll need time to develop and the idea is that if you put them in our environment, in two, three, four years time they have experienced a lot of football and will be the future."

Reay said that he was confident her squad could meet the goals set out at the start of the campaign.

"We've got our own targets in house and we're on track," she said.

"We lost Charlotte [Potts] from the squad but we're asking players to step up and they have got us this far, so there's absolutely no reason why we can't keep going."

The Black Cats have had two disappointing results since returning from the winter break, losing difficult away games to London City Lionesses and Lewes.

The next challenge is a fourth round FA Cup tie at St Andrews, with Birmingham City the opponent.

Birmingham have only won one WSL game this season, but that was against current leaders Arsenal earlier this month.

They are managed by former Sunderland midfielder Darren Carter and Reay says it will be a big test for her side. All the more so as they will be without two of their most experienced players, with Grace McCatty suspended and Emma Kelly likely to miss out with an ankle problem.

"Sunday is another challenge for us, a good test," Reay said.

"They are at the bottom of the WSL and we're at the lower end of the Championship, we're the underdogs going into the game but we've seen before that anything can happen on the day.

"It's business as usual for us, we'll hopefully be hard to play against.

"We've come together this week as a collective, we've had two bad results but it's only three weeks ago that we beat Liverpool in the Conti Cup.

"It's part of the journey and it's a really, really young team. We've stressed about not getting too low with the lows and not certainly not getting carried away with the highs.

"It's about long-term targets, and keeping working hard toward that. That's all I can ask of them.

"We're a young side, and everyone is going to make a mistake.

"The goals we've been conceding are not about individuals, they've been about the collective, so it's been about just educating the players rather than pointing fingers.

"Likewise, we're absolutely putting the ownership on the players to improve and have those high standards, so it's an environment that we can learn in."

Emily Scarr is a doubt for the game with a minor injury, but Faye Mullen is expected to play some part.

Reay is hopeful that Kelly could be fit to return for next weekend's game against Sheffield United.

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