DICK ADVOCAAT has made a strong defence of Sunderland’s sporting director Lee Congerton after a frustrating summer when the head coach had to be patient for breakthroughs on the transfer front.

Congerton, linked with a return to Germany where Borussia Monchengladbach are said to be keen, has signed eight players since the end of the season at a cost of around £23m in permanent fees; excluding Santiago Vergini who has since joined Getafe on loan after his loan move of last season became permanent.

But DeAndre Yedlin, Ola Toivonen and Fabio Borini only arrived in last few days of the transfer window which has left them having to play catch up in terms of match fitness.

And from a tactical point of view, Advocaat has had to try to engineer a system which suits his old and new players mid-season; more difficult than trying to get the right blend during pre-season.

But the Sunderland boss does not think it is fair to criticise Congerton and he was keen to stress the role he has played in improving a squad without having the massive amounts of cash to spend that other clubs have.

Advocaat said: "Lee did a great job with the money we had in the beginning, it was not ‘we want that that and that’, it was who can we get?

“It was like that every day. If you say you have £50-£60m and we bring in eight players, OK, but that wasn't the way it was.

"It's not about numbers, it's about quality. That's how you have to work. Taking into account the way Lee's had to work, he's done a great job taking everything into account.

“We have a team who can play football. They know what they need to do. They just need a win to give us a lift. That's what I need.”

When Sunderland face Bournemouth today, Advocaat is likely to include five new recruits in his starting line-up with more, including Yedlin, on the bench. Adam Johnson, who has not played since the opening day, is also in the squad after recovering from a shoulder problem.

But Advocaat’s biggest concern is not the quality he has at his disposal, more the fitness of those he can call on after witnessing Sunderland run out of steam against Tottenham last Sunday.

Toivonen, Borini and Jordi Gomez – who was thrust straight in after five months out with injury – were all key players in the Black Cats’ impressive first half, but faded as the second half developed as Spurs took control.

Advocaat has also seen evidence of burn out on the training ground, but he hopes an easier Friday session will help Sunderland be refreshed and ready to go when they face the Cherries.

"It is not just a problem that the players we signed were in reserves, it was a problem that they were not training with their teams,” said Advocaat. “Kaboul, M’vila and Borini were not training with their teams. If you bring them there, it takes time.

"They were not regulars at their former clubs. Kaboul was not training and cost £2-3m. But he can be a good addition for our squad, and the same with Toivonen. He cost nothing. Yann cost nothing.

“Toivonen had to go out on Sunday for me. He said ten times 'I'm knackered'! I brought Jordi in and he did well but I had to change people.

"On Wednesday it was quite a hard session then on Thursday they were hopeless and I told them that as well by the way. We have to be careful we don't ask for too much.

"When I say hopeless I don't mean they were hopeless, I mean they were tired. I can never complain because they give everything but you could see it in their faces, sometimes you can see it in my face.”

Sunderland are in desperate need of a victory after collecting just two points from the opening 15 available, but Advocaat accepts Bournemouth under Eddie Howe could make it difficult.

He said: “I've followed Eddie Howe and he's done really well, but hopefully not against us. They did a great job from having almost nothing six years ago but we have to look for ourselves to get that win to get that self confidence.

“That's what happened last season; we need to believe that the quality in the squad is good enough to do that. I always say it doesn't matter how you play, we always go for the three points - it doesn't matter how.”