SIMON GRAYSON claims Wahbi Khazri and Jeremain Lens could still have a future at Sunderland, and has warned all his want-away players they will only be allowed to leave if it suits his plans.

Khazri and Lens were on target at Easter Road yesterday as Sunderland continued their pre-season preparations with a 2-2 draw with Hibernian, but the pair have been linked with a move away from the Stadium of Light.

Khazri has been linked with a number of clubs in France, while Lens is attracting interest from Holland and Turkey, having spent last season on loan at Fenerbahce.

The pair’s departure could bring in more than £10m, and would result in another major reduction to Sunderland’s wage bill, but Grayson will not be selling players just because they are keen to leave.

An acceptable offer will have to be received, and as long as the likes of Khazri, Lens and Lamine Kone remain on Sunderland’s books, they will feature in Grayson’s plans for next season.

“While they’re still here and being paid as Sunderland players, they’ll be doing every session with the rest of the lads,” said the Sunderland boss. “They’re not out here for a jolly up – they’ll earn their money. While they’re here, we’ll utilise them, and if anything changes, so be it.

“(Khazri) is a talented player, and that’s why he is at Sunderland. He’s played in the Premier League. You’ve seen in the two games that he’s a good player, and we want to keep good players.

“Time will tell who will stay at the football club. Every player at every club has a price, but while they’re here, they’ll do what’s required and do everything to try to get in the team for the first game of the season.”

Brendan Galloway made his first Sunderland appearance in the second half of yesterday’s game, and the Black Cats completed their second summer signing on Saturday when Ty Browning moved from Everton on a season-long loan.

Aiden McGeady remains on the verge of a £2m move from Goodison Park, with Sunderland officials hoping a deal will be concluded in the next couple of days once the midfielder ties up some contractual loose ends with Everton.

Further signings will follow - West Ham’s Robert Snodgrass remains a leading target – with Grayson actively pursuing a number of different options.

“Things are ticking along,” said Grayson. “We’ve been linked with a host of players. Some are players that might interest us, others are players that are totally way off the mark.

“We’ll just be moving along with the players that we are in contact with at the moment. There will be players coming in without a shadow of a doubt – they might not be the ones that people are talking about though.”

Having kicked off their pre-season schedule with a 3-2 win at Bury on Friday night, Sunderland were unable to claim another victory in the first leg of their three-game tour of Scotland.

Grayson fielded completely different line-ups in the first and second halves, but while the Black Cats looked effective going forward, they were punished for some sloppy defending as they conceded two goals in the space of four second-half minutes.

Khazri was their stand-out performer, and having seen an early free-kick deflect against the crossbar, the Tunisian winger opened the scoring two minutes before the break.

Billy Jones crossed from the left-hand side, and having broken into the area, Khazri volleyed home a crisp first-time finish.

Lens was making his first appearance since returning from Fenerbahce, and he doubled Sunderland’s lead ten minutes into the second half as he latched on to Rees Greenwood’s back-heel to drill a low finish into the corner.

Lee Cattermole struck the post as Sunderland threatened to extend their lead further, but Hibs hit back with two quick-fire goals shortly after the hour mark.

Sunderland goalkeeper Mika was at fault for the first, failing to prevent Martin Boyle’s low shot squeezing past him at the front post, and the second was the result of some more slack Black Cats defending as an unmarked Simon Murray converted David Gray’s low cross from the edge of the six-yard box.

“It’s nice to get the experienced players back,” said Grayson, who was able to introduce Cattermole, John O’Shea and Didier Ndong for the second half. “The international lads who I’d not seen since I’ve been back at the club.

“They’re all looking in decent shape. They’ve had 45 minutes, and we’ll build it up again in the training sessions and games that we’ve got this week, and keep moving along. We’d have liked to win and get a clean sheet, but ultimately it’s about getting minutes in the legs of the players.

“I think for 65 or 70 minutes, we were very good. We passed the ball at a good tempo, looked a threat going forward, and were a lot more secure than the other night because we kept the ball well and played with a real tempo.

“In the last 20 minutes, we took too many touches, let them get tighter to us and gave them a bit of momentum. That was disappointing, but for 70 minutes or so, it was very encouraging.”

Hibernian (4-4-2): Marciano; Gray (Martin 76), McGregor, Fontaine (Porteous 61), Stevenson; Bartley (F Murray 76), McGeouch (Pennnant 61), McGinn, Swanson (Graham 61); S Murray (Shaw 76), Boyle.

Sunderland First Half (4-2-3-1): Mannone; Love, Kone, Djilobodji, Jones; Gibson, Embleton; Honeyman, Rodwell, Khazri; Maja.

Sunderland Second Half (4-2-3-1): Mika; Matthews, O’Shea, Beadling, Galloway; Cattermole, Ndong; Lens, E Robson, Greenwood; Gooch.