Sunderland boss Alex Neil drops Jack Diamond hint amid Fleetwood Town interest

Diamond trained with the first-team group throughout pre-season but played regularly in an unfamiliar striking role, and missed out on the matchday squad for the first two league games of Sunderland’s season.

Fleetwood Town are interested in signing the 22-year-old on loan.

Neil has previously said that the decision on whether Diamond goes out on loan (or permanently) will be guided in part by what incoming business Sunderland do before the window closes.

Speaking on Friday morning ahead of the visit of QPR, Neil hinted that Diamond could still leave the club on loan before the transfer window shuts, with the winger one of Sunderland’s better performers on an otherwise disappointing night at Sheffield Wednesday in midweek.

Diamond played in an unfamiliar striking role in the 2-0 defeat.

“Jack played the other night and we've still got a few weeks left of the window,” Neil said.

“What we want to make sure with the lads is that if they're not going to get as much game time here as they need for their development, we'll look to get them out on loan.

“But at the moment no decision has been made on that.”