Having gone all so close to an immediate promotion back to the Championship last season, only to miss out as a result of Patrick Bauer's 94th minute strike for Charlton in the League One play-off final, you would expect many Sunderland to be confident about going one better next season.

Given the latest news around some of the club's reported transfer targets however, it wouldn't be too much of a surprise is some of that confidence in the past few days was diminishing somewhat.

In the past few days, two of the Black Cats reported attacking transfer targets - James Wilson and Lawrence Shankland - have instead elected to join Scottish sides Aberdeen and Dundee United respectively.

It is something that you imagine has to be a concern for those of a Sunderland persuasion.

Despite being in the running for an automatic promotion spot for most of the season, Sunderland lacked a goalscorer for much of the campaign, and you can argue that it was that that ultimately cost them in their search for a return to the second tier.

Sunderland fans are likely to be well aware that their top scorer last season was 20-year-old Josh Maja, who hit 15 goals in the league for the Black Cats in the first half of the campaign, before leaving the club in the January transfer window to join Bordeaux in the French top flight.

That Maja has scored just once in seven appearances since his move to Bordeaux will be no consolation to Sunderland fans, and only serve to remind them of how different their situation could have now been.

With Will Grigg having failed to fire since his big money from Wigan in the January transfer window, the pressure on the club to bring in a goalscorer for that promotion push next year, so missing out on both Wilson and Shankland is unlikely to help the mood around the Stadium of Light, with the club now seemingly running out of options.

Admittedly, Wilson struggled for goals during a loan spell at Aberdeen last season, while Shankland - prolific as he may have been - has yet to be tested at League One level, which may soften the blow slightly with regards to these two players in particular.

It could now be argued that if they are unable to complete deals for free agents such as Wilson and Shankland, do they have the pulling power to bring in the so called higher profile signings.

If they are to encounter problems when it comes to bringing those sorts of signings in, then there may be concerns around just how strong a position they will even be in to compete for promotion to the Championship next season.

It was the finest of margins by which Sunderland missed out on promotion last season, but you now feel there will be some Sunderland fans questioning just how much that one moment could cost them in that quest once more in the coming campaign.