LEE JOHNSON says Sunderland have to trust the effectiveness of the EFL’s regulatory process when it comes to the legitimacy of Peterborough United’s signing of a new goalkeeper this week.

Peterborough’s number one shot-stopper, Christy Pym, has been ruled out of the remainder of the season after sustaining a muscular injury in Monday’s 1-1 draw with the Black Cats.

Posh’s substitute goalkeeper against Sunderland was Hungarian 24-year-old Daniel Gyollai, whose only four senior appearances for the club have come in the Papa John’s Trophy.

The club’s other reserve goalkeeper, Will Blackmore, is also still to make five career appearances in the Football League, so Peterborough were given permission to make an emergency signing of a goalkeeper for their remaining seven matches even though their 44-year-old goalkeeping coach, Mark Tyler, is understood to be registered in a dual playing-coaching role.

Stoke City’s Josef Bursik, a highly-rated 20-year-old who made his England Under-21 debut against Albania last November, has moved to London Road, with his arrival potentially even strengthening a Peterborough squad that is battling against Sunderland for one of the two available automatic-promotion spots.

“They’ve certainly signed a good goalkeeper, arguably better than the one that got injured,” said Johnson. “They’re both good goalkeepers – Pym is a good keeper, and the guy that’s coming in from Stoke is very good as well.

“I don’t think their squad or their team will be short. Obviously my immediate focus is on Sunderland, and if I’m honest, I don’t know the ins and the outs there. I know the rules – and I would be very disappointed if any club in this division was able to wrangle the rules, whether that be a Covid situation or an emergency loan situation like this.

“I think the goalkeeper-coach has been registered, and you get a benefit from that. We did it at Oldham, where we would use that benefit because the player gets pension money from the PFA and stuff like that. It’s a way of bumping up their wage, so there has to be a consideration for that.

“Really, you just have to trust the EFL and the process of what’s gone on. What can I do about it? Whether it’s right or whether it’s wrong, I can’t go and sign a top centre-half, for example, and play him, so for us, it’s about maintaining focus on our solid performances and trying to build on those.”