Sunderland boss gives his honest view on deadline-day disappointment and has clear striker message

The Black Cats signed talented defender Joe Anderson from Everton early in proceedings but were left frustrated when their attempts to find cover for the injured Ross Stewart fell short.

Kristjaan Speakman told The Echo on Thursday that the club had been pursuing four potential loan additions during the course of the day, one of which was Everton's Ellis Simms.

Speakman also ruled out signing a free agent to help address the shortage, and Mowbray has backed that stance ahead of the trip to Millwall.

The head coach admits the club are walking something of a tightrope with Joe Gelhardt as their only fit striker, but believes he has the players to be competitive.

"We have looked at every market, believe me," Mowbray said.

"At this moment, we're happy to go with what we've got. Happy probably isn't the right word because we worked really hard [to find another striker] and there was a lot of work that went into it - we were left disappointed with some of the targets we hoped we might be able to get.

"I know our supporters will be disappointed.

"There is a plan here, we are trying to create a culture and an identity and so it's important that we get the right players and the right people in, that we've identified and been through our process with. Then because you've done your due diligence, they can come in and help the team.

"I would prefer to go into these games with the players that we want, rather than bring someone in who has a number nine on their shirt. If they don't fit the culture and the identity, and they can't do what they're trying to coach into the team, but can stand in the box and has scored goals [before] - I think it's more important to keep doing what you're trying to do.

"At the end of the day, you get judged on your team. If we bring someone in who isn't planned and who we haven't done that work on and they don't fit the team, and we don't do very well, you get judged on that [as well].

"I'd rather work on the players we've identified and get judged on what we produce. Of course if our one number nine gets injured then we have a really difficult scenario and we're having those conversations about finding a way again. But at this moment we're OK and we're looking forward to the challenge.

"We're looking forward to the second half of the season. We've got good players and I've got belief that we can go and give a good account of ourselves."

Sunderland will be without a striker when they face Fulham in the FA Cup replay at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday night, as Gelhardt is cup-tied. However, the competition's registration rules mean any deadline-day addition would have been unavailable until the fifth round.