SUNDERLAND'S Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman says there is a plan in place for post season recruitment, regardless of whether they’re in League One or the Championship.
The Black Cats are gearing up for their League One play off semi final legs against Lincoln City.
The first leg is next Wednesday while the second leg will be played on the Saturday at the Stadium of Light in front of a sell-out crowd. 
Speakman has been in the role since December and is keen to identify new talent ahead of next season.
Speakman said: “Ultimately, you’re running a process for player selections, retentions on meeting the philosophy of what we’re trying to play.

Then you’re dividing that into levels, can that player do what we’re asking them to do in the Championship and in League One?” Speakman told the SAFC Unfiltered Podcast.
“Obviously there’s going to be a financial element to that because potentially, players who want to play in the Championship are going to require more money. 
“I don’t see it as an issue, any business has got to be flexible and adaptable and we’re no different. 
“We’re actually quite fortunate. We know what the two parameters and what the two outcomes are. 
“We’ve got a really robust player recruitment process in there. I understand it causes some anxiety because the timeline is quite short.
Stuart Harvey is Sunderland’s Head of Recruitment having been appointed in recent months and Speakman says he’s establishing an infrastructure on how to spot the best talent.
“Stuart has not been with us very long and Stuart is highly motivated to try and build a model for us which is both using the subjective and the objective.
“Watching the games and understanding how the players behave on the pitch, and obviously there is lots of things that data doesn’t tell you, that you want to get an eye on it to understand body language. 
“Things like that which make it hard for data to pick up, what’s their character looking like in certain moments of the game? How vocal are they? Where’s there communication?
“We want to spread ourselves to be able to analyse and observe as many possible players as you can. 
“That stands to reason, if you go down the traditional video or live scouting route, you’re going to watch a lot of games over a lot of hours.
“What we’re trying to do is merge those two areas together whereby we can run data which is specific to us.”
Ahead of a crunch period, Speakman is relishing watching the side in the play-offs with fans returning for the home leg on Saturday 29th May.
Around 10,000 supporters are expected through the turnstiles at the Stadium of Light as they eye up a date with Wembley.
“Ultimately we’ve got to enjoy the play-offs, we’re in a competitive sporting environment and we should be living for these types of moments” said Speakman.
“Plus you’ve got the fans coming back to the stadium. I haven’t experienced that yet. I have experienced it about 10 years ago coming in as a run of the mill spectator to watch a game. 
“To be there knowing you’re working for the football club in a fairly senior capacity and you’re delivering for the people of Sunderland. Really looking forward to that as I know Lee (Johnson) is as well and the players are. 
“So for us, it’s a fantastic few weeks to be involved in those high level, high profile games and as I say, we’ll execute those plans based on where we end up on the 30th May."