What to expect from Sunderland on deadline day - and Kristjaan Speakman's clear pledge

Sunderland head into deadline day with work very much still to do if they are to achieve their goals 

The Black Cats have, of course, already made one move in the market. Left back was not necessarily a priority at the turn of the year but it quickly became one when both Aji Alese and Dennis Cirkin suffered injuries, leading to the arrival of Leo Hjelde on a long-term deal. A winger was not necessarily top of the agenda, either, but Sunderland have always moved quickly for a youngster who they feel has long-term potential and particularly with Jack Clarke's longer-term future uncertain, the imminent arrival of Romain Mundle from Standard Liege makes sense. Mundle’s signing is expected to be confirmed on deadline day, with Alex Pritchard also expected to be confirmed as a Birmingham City player at some stage after undergoing a medical on Wednesday.

Beyond that, a striker remains a key priority for Sunderland. Goals from Nazariy Rusyn and Mason Burstow over the last month have at least offered some hope that the four options currently in the building are making progress, but Beale and sporting director Kristjaan Speakman have confirmed that they will add another option if possible. The focus is on an established forward who can immediately improve the team, the issue being that those players are expensive and in demand right across the Championship. Kieffer Moore has been a target this month, but it is reflective of a challenging market that Bournemouth as of yet have not sanctioned his departure and will understandably demand significant remuneration if they are to do so. 

Sunderland are also keen to add another midfielder to their squad, a position where depth has been lacking for much of the campaign so far. Speakman has said it is not quite as straightforward as signing cover for Corry Evans, but has confirmed that they want a 'different' type of midfielder to their current options, who are all best deployed as attacking eights. Should Sunderland land one of their key targets in these positions then it could pave the way for some last-minute loan departures, with Jay Matete and Luis Hemir two potential candidates who will need game time if their pathway to the starting XI on Wearside is further impacted by new arrivals. 

So it will hopefully be a busy day on Wearside, with added firepower for the play-off push arriving. But Sunderland made clear last year that they will not make signings that they do not think fit their strategy, even if that proves to be unpopular in the short term.

Kristjaan Speakman reiterated that message last week when he spoke to the press, saying: "it will be busy, and hopefully we’ll get the outcomes we want [in the final days of the window]. You can't do this kind of work if you're going to panic. You've got to be really strategic, you need everyone aligned and you have to be really calm in those moments because that's when mistakes happen. When you become frantic and panicked, you make selections and poor economic decisions and that's when you're going to damage [things for the future]. You have to stay calm, and sometimes that means saying no to things that externally, people might perceive to be good. But internally, we know it's not going to work and that's the difficulty because you want people to be excited, but it can't be at the expense of getting better."

Sunderland have been busy across recent deadline days and they intend to replicate that on Thursday, but there are no guarantees that they'll be doing significant business beyond Mundle's arrival.