Sunderland transfer news: What Tony Mowbray said about potential signings, Swansea team news and injuries

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Tony Mowbray’s pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s match against Swansea.

The Black Cats boss is set to speak to the media at 12:30pm and will be asked about injuries, transfers and more.

Stick around and refresh the page for live updates from the Academy of Light.

We’re 12 days in and it’s been a quiet transfer window for Sunderland so far.

Jay Matete has joined Plymouth on loan and other fringe players could also be allowed to leave on temporary deals if the Black Cats feel there is sufficient cover in their squad.

Ellis Simms’ return to Everton means Sunderland are now looking to sign two new strikers this month, while it remains a possibility that Simms could return at the end of the month - depending on Everton’s situation.

The Black Cats are also trying to sign a young striker on a permanent deal, though at this stage a deal is not thought to be close.

Sunderland are also looking to straighten in central midfield to provide more cover for captain Corry Evans.

So what about injuries?

Well there is some positive news after defender Danny Batth returned to training this week following a calf issue, with the centre-back expected to at least be in the squad to face Swansea.

Lynden Gooch was back on the bench at Shrewsbury in the FA Cup last weekend and could be in contention to start against The Swans.

Corry Evans could also return after missing the draw at Blackpool on New Year’s Day.

Aji Alese, Dennis Cirkin, Alex Pritchard and Niall Huggins are all expected to miss the match, though, while Elliot Embleton is still recovering from a long-term setback.

We should get a further update from Mowbray later today.

“I think there is little chance that we will be winning that award.

“I don’t look at the stats but I think Carlos Corberan won every game just about in December.

“I think we are doing ok but not in a situation where we won six on the bounce. The team would take the accolade really rather than the manager.

“On a personal level I don’t put much credence into things like that. What’s important is that we keep trying to keep picking up points and I think it’s just a reflection that the team are doing ok.”

“There is no real update from me.

“We have a recruitment meeting at 2 o’clock and all the recruitment staff are in. We will be going through where we are on certain enquiries.

“Like every window it’s very rare you have all your ducks lined up and you just sign players from day one.

“We are working hard and conversations have been had, not necessarily by me, but we have meetings today to tell  us where we are with certain deals.

“They are generally drawn out situations where you want to get somebody as cheap as you can, they want as much money for their player as they can and somewhere in between there is a number that ticks everybody’s box.

“There’s a time period that goes between the start and finish of these deals.”

“I think we will sign some players.

“Some players have gone out on loan and some players might go out on loan.

“It’s not wise to come out of the transfer window less well off than when you went into the transfer window.

“We know we need to replace some of the players that we have allowed to go out on loan to develop.

“Hopefully we get that business done so that we do come out of the window feeling stronger than when we went into it.”

“Danny Batth trained today which is good

“Niall Huggings had his first day back on the grass today which is good.

“No Aji, no Cirkin, no Embleton, no Pritchard. I think everyone else is sort of back in contention even though some of them might not be, Niall Huggins for example it was his first day back today after a while out.”

“It’s really interesting the perception of Swansea, that’s why I have been studying them this week.

“They are number one in the league for ball possession, something like number for shots at goal, yet there is a perception they are not having a very good season. They are a very, very good team.

“I think we felt that in the first half down there until we got it sorted out. We were playing without a centre-forward that day and their middle centre-half Darling just kept waltzing through the middle of the team and caused us problems.

“Until we addressed that we were in trouble because they are a really good football team.

“We have to be wary of them and it’s a difficult game because of the conundrum of here’s the team that has the ball more than any team in our league. Here we are at home wanting to engage our fans so that they don’t see Swansea come on our pitch and just pass the ball around.

“We need to get after the game and make sure they know they are in a football match, and when we have the ball we are good with the ball so they have to chase around.

“It is a good challenge for us I think.”

“I think when you play against Swansea and preparation for Swansea is almost unique because they are a possession-based team who want to pass to each other through the lines and build from goal-kicks.

“They are a difficult team to prepare for, you know what’s coming but it’s not as easy to stop it as you might think because they have good technical players who fill the spaces on the pitch.

“When they get it right it looks amazing, they are a top team, and yet they don’t always find a way to win and put it in the opposition’s net enough.

“We have to make it as difficult for them as we can and know there will be times in the game when we have to suffer when they have the ball and it’s difficult to get it off them.

“As long as we are aware of that and when our moments come we can take them, we look forward to the challenge.”