Sunderland have looked very open defensively this season, and Tony Mowbray could do with an experienced anchor to sit in front of the defence and protect them on the counter attack...
MATETE INJURY
"I think it's going to be months rather than weeks, for Matete," said Mowbray. "Maybe three months - November? It was quite a bad one. Hopefully he will be back before Christmas. I'm sure he will be back before Christmas and competing."
LIGHT IN DEPTH
"The midfield area is quite light if you think that there's Dan Neil, Pierre Ekwah, and then Jobe [Bellingham] - after that you are into Chris Rigg, who is a 16-year-old boy. It's an area that maybe we should be looking at."
ATTACK STILL THE PRIORITY
"I think the reality is that we have to get the front end of the pitch sorted out first. But we are mindful that we are a bit light in there. If Dan or Pierre was a to pick up an injury, it suddenly starts to look really thin in that area of the pitch."
JOBE AND RIGGY
"We could drop Jobe in there but he is a 17-year-old boy. That seems daft because at some stage if you make a substitution you'll have a 16-year-old [Rigg] and a 17-year-old playing centre-mid in the Championship which is not ideal. It's an area that potentially we might look for a more experienced footballer to help the area out."
NEIL AND EKWAH THE MOST EXPERIENCED
"Dan is 21, Pierre is 21 - it's not as if they are 26 or 27 and have 300 appearances under their belts."
