Boss remains patient

Sunderland boss Martin O'Neill will take his search for reinforcements to the wire if he has to.

The Ulsterman's efforts to strengthen his squad this summer have to date proved frustrating, with no new arrivals since the capture of free agent Carlos Cuellar last month. His pursuit of Wolves striker Steven Fletcher, however, appears to be coming to a head with the 25-year-old Scotland international having on Wednesday handed in a transfer request after growing frustrated with his club's stance over his future. O'Neill said: "Unfortunately, I have been involved in late scrambles before, so it's nothing new to me in that sense. Obviously, the most important issue is to try to get them in before the deadline finishes. "Ideally it would be great to get them in and be part of the club before you kicked off the season, and we will do our utmost to do that. But unfortunately, I am unable to promise anything other than that we do have players in mind and we are trying our best to get them." O'Neill has studiously avoided commenting on his targets and his public stance is still to confirm only that a series of bids have been lodged and that the club is busily trying to push home its interest on several fronts.