O'Neill thrilled with recent recruits

Martin O'Neill has challenged new boys Adam Johnson and Steven Fletcher to reward his faith in them by bringing goals to Sunderland.

Black Cats owner Ellis Short spent in excess of £20million on the pair last Friday in an effort to significantly increase the club's firepower with England international Johnson recruited to provide the ammunition for Scot Fletcher and Stephane Sessegnon, who responded on Thursday by signing a contract extension. However, while O'Neill was thrilled to land both of his top summer targets within hours, he knows the investment will count for little if they do not produce the goods on the pitch. He said: "At the moment, you would have to say it's still potential because we have still to go and prove that we are capable of scoring goals in the big league. "I think we are. We have got some alternatives, we can attack from different areas of the field and that's all very, very encouraging. Of course, you need players to stay fit, but if they did do, I think we can cause problems."