FOR Sunderland, the January transfer window started and ended with Ellis Simms disappointment. First at his Everton recall, and then at the fact the Toffees wouldn't let him return.

Had the Black Cats been told at the start of the month that they'd spend the final few days of the window searching for a Ross Stewart replacement, the presumption may well have been that the star striker's contract situation had come to a head and he'd moved on.

And yet despite fears of Stewart's exit at the start of the window, speculation surrounding his future remained exactly that and any uncertainty regarding what happens beyond this season or next certainly didn't affect him on the pitch.

With the window playing out in the background, Stewart scored three goals in his first four January games. And when Sunderland won the fierce Championship battle for Joe Gelhardt last week, Tony Mowbray had an envied and feared forward line.

Mowbray has understandably been keen to play down expectations but with Stewart and Gelhardt and the supporting cast of Amad Diallo, Patrick Roberts, Jack Clarke and co, and the string of thrilling displays by his fearless young side, it was becoming increasingly difficult for the head coach to put a lid on the growing excitement.

And then came Fulham. The agony for Stewart, the woe for Sunderland. And just 48 hours after they'd learnt that captain Corry Evans would be ruled out for the season with a knee injury as well. Two desperately unfortunate cruel blows in quick succession.

A very young team was suddenly light of a leader in Evans and their top scorer in Stewart.

And after spending the entirety of the month up to that point trying to find a striker, just 24 hours after signing one in Gelhardt, the Black Cats were back in the market, this time not looking for support for Stewart but to replace him.

The results of the scan on Stewart's Achilles can't be described as positive given that the striker is out for four months but they were certainly better than initially feared.

But it still left Sunderland in need of a centre-forward in the last 72 hours of the window, and attention turned back to Simms.

The hope was that new Everton boss Sean Dyche would make an early call on the young frontman and if, as expected, the Toffees had striker signings lined up, they'd potentially allow the 22-year-old to return to Sunderland.

Simms was understood to have been keen on a return, which made sense. That, though, was presuming that Everton, engulfed in a scrap for Premier League survival and desperately short of goals, would strengthen their attack in the final stages of the window.

They didn't. Remarkably, the Toffees failed to make a single January signing, despite losing Anthony Gordon to Newcastle United. With nobody coming in, there was no way Dyche was going to sanction the exit of Simms.

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And so, what had otherwise been an encouraging and well executed transfer window, ended in disappointment for Sunderland.

Joe Anderson, Isaac Lihadji and Pierre Ekwah all arrived, another trio of promising youngsters to add to the squad. The future looks extremely bright, as all of the signings noted as they talked about how appealing it was to join a club where the structure is built around a pathway for young players.

But in the short-term, the obvious question is how will Sunderland cope without Stewart?

The hope is that Gelhardt can hit the ground running. He arrives having made 15 Premier League and four cup appearances for Leeds this season, so he'll be sharp. He has Championship experience. And having come from Elland Road, he understands and embraces the weight of expectation. He was the most sought-after loan signing in the Championship for a reason.

As Mowbray said of Gelhardt in the immediate aftermath of the Fulham draw and the Stewart injury blow, it's time to "unleash him on the league and see how he gets on".