Tony Mowbray is expecting a signing to replace Ellis Simms, as Ross Stewart is our only striker right now. He's also relaxed about keeping the Loch Ness Drogba this January, and may rest him against Shrewsbury on Saturday.
REINFORCEMENTS NEEDS
"As soon as possible, really. We need reinforcements. Ellis has gone back so Ross is our only out-and-out striker. We were without them both for a while. When you've got a big striker, a main man, the guy you look to for goals, some clubs are happy to do that and have one and not have another big player next to them vying for starting time."
YOUNG AND EAGER TO LEARN
"It's pretty unlikely that we are going to splash millions and millions on a big name to come in and play centre-forward. I think we need a young guy, like Ellis Simms did, who can come in and compete and know that he is learning off Ross, watching him and being around him and supporting him and some days we play two up front and other days he comes off the bench. That's what we are looking for, a player who can come and support our forward who at this moment every time he goes on the pitch he scores a goal. How quickly will that happen? I hope in the next few days, but it might not because deals aren't always done as quickly as you want them to be done."
TRANFER TARGETS
"I know the club is working really hard behind the scenes trying to make things happen, and what is important is that you have options and you are not just stuck on one player because otherwise you play into the hands of agents or other clubs. It's important that you have some targets and I know the recruitment department is working really, really hard and we are having discussions at the moment with various clubs about various players, and we'll see which ones drop in."
STEWART
"I'm confident [Stewart will still be at Sunderland at the end of the month]. I'm not sure the phone is ringing off the hook at the moment. It's great that he is scoring all the time, he's back fit, he's starting football matches again [after recovering from the thigh injury that kept him out for three months]."
SHREWS ON SAT
"I've had a conversation with him today and, without giving the team away, he wants to play on Saturday because he wants to keep building up his resilience. That's a decision we'll make as a management team, whether we risk Ross Stewart picking up an injury in an FA Cup match when we've got important league games coming up, or whether we play him to help him build up his resilience and keep his confidence up."
