Stewart Donald was kind enough to be a guest on the Roker Rapport podcast this afternoon, where he revealed that Sunderland met two players today - a centre-back and a striker - who he hoped would sign relatively quickly.

The centre-back is Burnley’s Irish defender Jimmy Dunne, who has just returned to Turf Moor after a successful six-month loan spell with Scottish Premiership side Heart of Midlothian.

The 21-year-old is expected to sign a loan deal that will see him remain at Sunderland until the end of the season after travelling up to Wearside yesterday.

Dunne played 14 times for Hearts this season - starting every game and scoring two goals - before an ankle injury at the end of November kept him out of action. He was officially recalled by Burnley earlier today.

He joined Burnley in 2016 from Manchester United and has also spent time on loan at Barrow, as well as helping Accrington Stanley get promoted to League One last season after joining the club on loan in January.