SAM ALLARDYCE has revealed how being patient is part of his summer transfer plans rather than targeting a number of free agents just to give his Sunderland squad a short term facelift.

The Black Cats boss – who has been backed by Sir Alex Ferguson for the England job in the last 24 hours – takes the Black Cats players to Austria for a nine-day training camp today and he will not have any new signings in tow.

That is because he has so far been unable to convince clubs to sell players, such as West Ham in his pursuit of £15m-rated Diafra Sakho, and he is not willing to make signings for the sake of it to increase the size of the playing staff he has to call on.

Allardyce said: “I have not signed any of the free transfer type players, or loans. I am focused on the top players I need for the team this year. I am waiting patiently, where I will spend, who on.

“Let’s do that first rather than take a player here or there. We want players who will go straight into the first team and make an impact. We will look beyond that, after that.”

Allardyce - who has Charles N'Zogbia training with the squad after leaving Aston Villa - has been an interested observer from the sidelines watching the European Championships and has been heavily linked with the England job. In his interview with the club’s official website he did not comment on his chances of replacing Roy Hodgson, but did rule out signing players taking part in France.

He said: “I would resist buying a player from the Euros. If they have had a good tournament it will be very expensive. Those at the Euros will see players play above themselves. Like the Hal Robson-Kanu situation, which is fantastic.

“He spent ten years at Reading and he is one of tournament’s leading scorers because he is focused and had the desire to play for Wales. That’s the danger you face when you sign a player who looks an outstanding player at the Euros, but when it comes to week-to-week it is not always the case.”

But after convincing Jermain Defoe, Patrick van Aanholt and Vito Mannone to sign new deals he is happy with the work so far – even if he wants more.

Allardyce said: “The leading scorer signs for another year, then there was the consistent performances of Patrick, who listened and learned in my period of my short tenure. He became my most consistent player.

“In the end for me it was a little gamble to say ‘let Costel Pantilimon go’ and give Vito a chance and bring in Jordan Pickford to give him a chance. All of those things worked very well, as well as the new signings so I was happy.

“We are in a good frame of mind. We have to take that frame of mind forward and better the performances of last season.”

To do that Allardyce feels pre-season will be crucial, starting with the trip to Austria, and then they start the Premier League campaign against Manchester City and neighbours Middlesbrough.

He said: “We go to Austria … it is about lifting the lads’ endurance to have the tenacity and endurance to cope with a very physical and enduring season.

“Hopefully it will not have as many nerves jangling, we need to get everyone as fit as possible and stay away from injuries at this stage and to get the fitness levels to a degree that they are 100 per cent fit at the start of the season against Manchester City away.”

He added: “We have Middlesbrough instead of Newcastle this season. They are newly promoted, excited fans and players. They will be really up for it. They will give us a hugely difficult game on the basis of the euphoria of getting promoted. They will be in a positive frame of mind at the start of pre-season, so catching them early will be a difficult match. I haven’t looked any further.”

Allardyce remains in the frame for the England job following the resignation of Hodgson after the depressing Euros exit at the hands of Iceland - and has the backing of former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.

Ferguson said: “It's very difficult to think of the right man and there are only three English managers in the Premier League. With Sam's experience, he is the obvious choice.

“But I think they have to search wider to make sure they get the right one. If it's Sam, fine. But they have to have someone with the capabilities, the tactical awareness and the feel for the national side.

“Thank goodness I'm not making the choice because it's a difficult one, but Sam's the best English candidate because he's in the Premier League.”

Sunderland, meanwhile, have confirmed ticket details for the pre-season friendlies abroad. Supporters are advised there will be no tickets on sale on the day at any of the games.

The week-long trip to France begins against Stade Nyonnais on Monday, July 25 (7.30pm), followed by Dijon on Wednesday, July 27 (6pm). Both will take place at the Stade Camille-Fournier, Évian-les-Bains. The tour concludes with a fixture against Montpellier on Saturday, July 30 (6pm), at the Stade Jacques Forestier in Aix-les-Bains.

Tickets are priced at £12 for adults and £6 for under 16s and over 65s and will go on sale from the Stadium of Light ticket office from 9am on Thursday, July 7.

Tickets for the Borussia Dortmund game at the Cashpoint Arena in Austria, on Friday, August 5 (7pm local time), can only be purchased online via the link below and are not available from Sunderland.

Sunderland supporters have been allocated sector F and north stand terrace of the stadium and tickets can be booked via https://tickets.scra.at/. They are priced €40 and €20 for adults, €30 and €15 for Over 65s and €20 and €10 for under-14s.