SUNDERLAND have ended their interest in Chris Martin - but Chris Coleman is “99 per cent certain” of completing at least one signing ahead of Wednesday night’s transfer deadline.

The Black Cats offered Martin a loan deal to the end of the season, having been given permission by Derby County to speak to the striker.

However, Martin opted to travel to Dubai for a warm-weather training camp with the rest of the Derby squad, and with Reading also hoping to push through a loan deal in the next two days, Sunderland have drawn a line under their pursuit of the Scotland international and opted to look elsewhere.

Coleman remains determined to sign a striker before the transfer window closes, and is also keen to recruit a new goalkeeper, with Middlesbrough number two Dimi Konstantopoulos at the forefront of his thoughts.

He is confident one deal is all but done, but admits it will not be signed and sealed until tomorrow’s round of matches is out of the way, with Sunderland due to take on Birmingham City at St Andrew’s.

Coleman said: “I think we’re 99 per cent certain there’ll be one in between now and Wednesday. Obviously there are games tomorrow, so with respect to the player and the club he’s at, there’s nothing more we can say really.

“That won’t happen until Wednesday morning, subject to medicals. I’m still hoping and praying it’ll be one more after that.

“We have to concentrate on Birmingham, that’s the priority – but we’ll try to add in these last days to what we’ve got.

“I would say definitely one, and hopefully two. Everything is agreed, but there’s football to be played between now and then.”

Coleman completed his second January transfer on Friday night when Kazenga LuaLua left Brighton and signed a short-term deal on Wearside.

LuaLua will not start at Birmingham tomorrow, but is set to be involved in the squad, and while the former Newcastle United trainee spent most of his time at Brighton playing as a winger, Coleman intends to use him as a central striker.

He said: “Kaz ticks some boxes for me. He’s hungry, he needs to prove himself, and he wants to be here.

“He’s an explosive player. People look at it and say we’ve got Callum (McManaman) and Aiden (McGeady), so we’ve got wingers.

“But I want Kaz to play down the middle for us. He might have to do a job for us out wide, but I’ve brought him here to play down the middle as a nine or a ten because of his pace.

“We still need one more up there, through the middle. That’s what we need.”

Lamine Kone and Jonny Williams have both played with the Under-23s in the last seven days, but neither will start at St Andrew’s. Kone could, however, feature on the substitutes’ bench.