Tony Mowbray reveals Sunderland's January blueprint

The Black Cats are stepping up their preparations and are likely to be active in order to add some much-needed depth to a couple of key positions. Mowbray says that with the depth at his disposal rapidly improving, he does not envisage there being much significant business beyond that.

He says the club are currently discussing which of the squad's talented younger players could benefit from a loan move and in what positions they may need to strengthen to benefit the development of the squad over a longer period of time.

Chairman Kyril Louis-Dreyfus told supporters last month that there will be some funds available to strengthen as he looks to continue to add assets to the playing group.

"We're looking not just at this window but the next few really," Mowbray said on Thursday.

"Where people's contract situations are at, will that be resolved and what does that mean etc.

"We've talked about some names but you never know for sure until you make those calls whether it's feasible. Some of that is also about the younger players, whether you think that rather than them being around the periphery of the squad, they should try and go on loan and play 20 games before the end of the season so they're better placed to come back and really compete.

"Those are the sorts of conversations we're having, rather than necessarily being definitive about players [coming in].

"The squad is actually beefing up a bit with the injured players coming back and so as it stands, I don't see us going out and blitzing the window, bringing in four or five players. We might cause ourselves problems doing that - unless we're bringing in players who are the underbelly if you like, whereby if players leave in the future we have their replacements already in the building and already working with us, understanding what we want and how we work.

"Let's wait and see, I don't want to talk too much about exactly what we're going to do, I want the players to be focused on helping the team in the weeks ahead rather than worrying about the players I've said we might be bringing in.

"The good thing for me is that we're talking collectively about what might happen in six months' time and what we therefore have to do. It's strategic planning."

Mowbray believes he will have close to a full squad available by the time the new year comes around, with both Daniel Ballard and Edouard Michut set to return to full training next week.

Ross Stewart is set to make his comeback against West Brom on Monday night after playing an hour and scoring in a behind-closed-doors game against Middlesbrough on Wednesday.

Stewart's contract situation is one of those factors in Sunderland's January planning - he has 18 months left on his current deal and is yet to agree a new one.