SUNDERLAND have just over two weeks to go until the transfer window slams shut until January and the club will have to rethink it's strategy following an injury to Daniel Ballard. However, he has been describing how the club have been managing a reasonable budget for a side in the Championship and retains hope business can be done.

The club suffered from a large scale exodus with a lot of departures leaving the squad with considerable gaps to fill. So far, their recruitment budget has seen them bring Ballard, Aji Alese, Jack Clarke and Ellis Simms to the club following their promotion to the second tier.

With a thin squad to choose from, the Black Cats have made a strong start to the Championship campaign with one win and two draws from their opening three games.

However, Sunderland are counting the cost of an injury to Ballard at the weekend after he hobbled off in their 2-2 draw against Queens Park Rangers. The defender went straight to hospital with scans revealing that the 22-year-old has suffered a fractured foot. He is set to have further scans as he undergoes a period of rehabilitation.

It's understood the timescale of Ballard’s recovery could force the hand of the club to reinvest in the squad and add to their defensive ranks. But that also comes down to their remaining budget and how they want to use it. In terms of Sunderland’s spending power, it isn’t too small but they are not one of the Championship’s big spenders.

Neil said: “The only way to arguably judge it in terms of where you expect it to be is probably based around budget as much as anything else. I don’t know how else you do grade it. We’ve got a budget where we are going to do as best as we can.

“It’s certainly not one that is at the top of the division but it’s not the lowest in the division either so there is a lot of teams where you can get really good deals done but honestly you have got to sift through a lot of stuff at times to get there.”

Following the 1-1 draw with Coventry City on the opening day of the season, Neil admitted that he wanted four or five more additions before the window closes.

Neil has described the transfer market as a ‘moving project’ in recent weeks and Ballard’s injury may well force the club in rethinking it’s strategy. However, there is the manpower to do that while Neil concentrates on first-team affairs with another league game to come on Wednesday evening.

“I think it’s impossible to do it all now yourself. I don’t think any club that I’m aware of is structured that way anymore” said the Sunderland boss.

At the Academy of Light, both sporting director Kristjaan Speakman and head of recruitment Stuart Harvey are fronting up the club’s concerted effort to bring targets to the club before the closure of the window.

Neil continued: “Naturally what you’ve got is people that dealing with players that we what to find and recruit that suit our style. Then you have got people in charge of the finances and then I’ve got my bit where it’s the team and my preferences in terms of what the potential candidates would look like.

“Equally, there has got to be some sort of structure and some sort of top and tailing in terms of what you can and can’t afford. Because what happens is costs completely spiral out of control and that’s where we are talking about our expectations for that for this year.”