Coleman – new faces are needed to help lift club to safety

BUT TRANSFER WINDOW CAN CHANGE LIFE IN A GOOD OR BAD WAY, SAYS CATS BOSS

It’s always dangerous doing a last-minute deal on deadline day, a rushed deal when you don’t know what you are going to get. Chris Coleman

CHRIS Coleman admits Sunderland need reinforcements as early as possible in the transfer window - but accepts the timing is out of his hands.

The Black Cats are desperate for the January window to open to bring in new faces who can help the club climb out of relegation danger.

Coleman is working on a shoestring budget which will leave him effectively reliant on loan signings unless he can move players on, but he has already drawn up a list of potential targets and Sunderland have been linked with a number of players.

Coleman refused to identify his targets but says he wants them in place quickly, partly because there are four league matches in January and every game counts for Sunderland, and partly to avoid the risk of signing players with the clock ticking on deadline day.

However January is a notoriously difficult time to bring in new blood, with clubs and players holding out until the last minute to weigh up their options.

“We would always want to improve on what we have got, no matter where we were in the league and whichever way the season was going,” said Coleman.

“But when you are where we are, it would be stupid of me to say that we are not looking to bring in some new players.

“We are, of course, and we need to. “I won’t speak about players at other clubs because I think it would be disrespectful, but we are trying to bring in players obviously. I’m trying to add to what I have got. “Ideally we want to do it as early in the window as we can but it is impossible to say that is going to happen, I really don’t know. It’s always dangerous doing a last-minute deal on deadline day, a rushed deal when you don’t know what you are going to get. “You want it done as early as you can so you don’t run into trouble, but a lot of the time you can’t dictate that - you are one of a number of clubs all scrambling for the same player. “We also don’t know whether we are going to lose anyone, time will tell. “The window will be very, very important, of course it will, because it can change life in a good or a bad way. “We have to hope and pray and keep our fingers crossed that, at the end of it, we look back and feel we’ve done some good business and we have some reinforcements to help us along the way. “We have targets but getting them in is another story.”

While Coleman knows he needs to bolster his squad, he is also determined to get the best out of the players he already has at his disposal.

He said: “It’s all about who is here, and who we can add to what we’ve got.

“We haven’t got anybody in yet, though, so it’s these players who are training every day and who are playing the games.

“That’s what I have to concentrate on and they have to know that I am absolutely 100 per cent in their corner to try and help us get out of this situation that we are in.”

Sunderland go to Nottingham Forest tomorrow with Coleman looking for a reaction to his side’s unacceptable Boxing Day performance which ended in a 3-0 defeat at Sheffield United.

Coleman said: “This was the first time since I have been here that we have completely missed a game of football.

“We weren’t competitive enough and that’s something we can’t swallow, and the players and I have to take responsibility. We missed the 90 minutes and if you do, that’s what you get - nothing.

“We’re going to lose games between now and the end of the season, we are not going to win or draw every game, but in terms of performance that is absolutely not the way to do it.”