Sunderland manager Phil Parkinson has spoken of his happiness at bringing Bailey Wright to the club, following confirmation of the defender's arrival at the Stadium of Light earlier this week.

Wright has joined the club on loan from Championship side Bristol City until the end of the season, and could his make his debut for the Black Cats on Friday night, when they host Doncaster Rovers at the Stadium of Light.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of that game, Parkinson was asked about the latest addition to his squad, with the club's official Twitter account quoting the Sunderland boss as saying: "I am very pleased to have Bailey. He is a very experienced Championship player."

Reflecting on the process that eventually saw the Australian move to the North East, Parkinson continued: "I had to be patient with the deal but he is a very good addition to the squad."

The defender is Sunderland's second signing of the January transfer window, after the arrival of Kyle Lafferty on a deal until the end of the season following his departure from Norwegian side Sarpsborg 08 at the end of last year.

Sunderland go into that match with Doncaster sixth in the League One standings, six points adrift of the automatic promotion places and only ahead of the chasing pack on goal difference.

The Verdict

This does look to be a useful signing for Sunderland.

As well as his past experience in the Championship, the fact that Wright also has a League One promotion under his CV from his time at Preston could also be useful for Sunderland here.

Indeed, the fact that that success came via the play-offs could well give the club an extra asset if they find themselves having to take that route in the bid for promotion again, having agonisingly missed out on promotion through that method last season.

Given his lack of first-team football with Bristol City at the start of this season, it will be interesting to see how willing Parkinson is to turn to Wright from the start on Friday, as you have to wonder slightly just how match fit he will be.