NO decision has been made yet on the future of Sunderland winger Jack Diamond according to manager Alex Neil.

The 22-year-old, who spent last season on loan with Harrogate Town, has had offers from clubs in League One and League Two for game time next season. He scored 13 goals and weighed in with six assists last season at Harrogate who are keen to re-sign him but if Sunderland were to sanction a loan move, it would be with a League One side with Scott Brown’s Fleetwood Town waiting in the wings.

Sunderland are looking to conduct business of their before the end of the transfer window with Neil keen to bring four or five signings into the club in the next few weeks.

Regarding Diamond, who played 90 minutes for the Black Cats in midweek in the Carabao Cup, a move away from the Stadium of Light has not been given the green light yet.

“He played the other night against Sheffield Wednesday and we’ve got a few weeks to go until the end of the window” said the Sunderland boss.

“What we want to make sure is if the lads are not going to get much game time here and that is what they probably need in their development and if that’s what they would want and we would want, then we would look to put them out on loan. But at the moment, there has been no decision made on that.”

A number of fringe players, including Diamond, were part of a Sunderland side that made eleven changes for their 2-0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday with Neil keen to give game time to others whilst having a primary focus on resting key players for the Championship.

While players may well feel they may not get enough game time on Wearside and could well forge a move elsewhere with less than three weeks to go before the window shuts, the Sunderland boss was quick to relay the point that lots can change in football in such a short space of time.

During his time at the club, Neil has shown he isn’t afraid to rotate as he continued: “I keep them motivated and involved anyway because as we’ve shown from when I came in until the end of last season, every single player that was in the building played minutes. Every player contributed to where we got to in the end.

“Albeit there might be a couple of lads that are starting on Saturday that didn’t start last Saturday but in two weeks time, they could be the most important player here. Sometimes getting a player to understand that at that point in time when they are in that predicament is not easy because they don’t see it.

“Obviously I’ve got a bigger overview of what we’re doing and how we are trying to do it. I think I’ve displayed on quite a few occasions the importance of players who albeit didn’t contribute in that game become important for another game. I’d like to think there is a trust there between me and the players and when I think their skillsets are needed, then I’ll have no hesitation of putting them in.”

Sunderland head into tomorrow’s home game against Queens Park Rangers without German winger Leon Dajaku who is out with a thigh injury.