Sunderland manager Phil Parkinson has stated he and chief scout Tony Coton have drawn up a list of transfer targets ahead of the January transfer window.

Sunderland currently sit in 11th place in League One after 17 games, having sacked former manager Jack Ross to be replaced by former Bolton boss Parkinson.

The 51-year-old has done little to overhaul the lacklustre start to the season that the Black Cats have had, as they suffer a hangover from last season’s play-off heartbreak. Since his appointment, Sunderland have won just two games, coming against struggling pair Southend and Tranmere.

The Black Cats are in desperate need of getting their promotion bid back on track after falling to three points behind sixth-placed Oxford United and the tension building at the Stadium of Light along with the expectation of better results.

With January looming, it presents a great opportunity for managers to perfect their squads ahead of the run-in, especially for managers that weren’t present in summer to do business, like Parkinson.

Speaking to the Sunderland Echo, Parkinson has revealed his current approach to finding the correct targets: “It is a continuous process of meeting with Tony Coton and his scouting team in terms of going into January.

“We’ve had the opportunity to go and watch a few games. I and Steve were at a game last night looking at a couple of players - potential targets. Other staff and the scouts have been out as well.

“We’ve been able to have that time to sit down with Tony and his team to write up the list of potential targets for January.”

While January will give him a chance to strengthen his side and mould it more in his image, it still presents a risk with it being a difficult market to get the best deals in. He added: “You’ve got to be realistic on that (bidding for players from January 1st).

“A lot of times when you watch players, a club says: ‘we want to see if we can get somebody in first.’ So quite often, the ideal scenario doesn’t often happen.

“All you can do with any transfer target is make the player, agent or club aware of your interest and try and keep it as quiet as you can until you can get a deal over the line.

“If we have to be patient, we have to be patient.”

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The Verdict

Sunderland have to act in January with the current side stagnating.

They are facing throwing away a great opportunity to clinch promotion back to the second tier and to ensure they have the best chance to do so, they need to sign players to help Parkinson build his squad.

Until then, the Sunderland boss will have to continue assessing his side to prioritise where to sign players for in his lineup, ensuring that he doesn’t make any mistakes with the pressure already mounting on him to deliver.