SUNDERLAND'S search for a new striker is on the verge of coming to a successful close, with Tony Mowbray confirming a signing is imminent - but the Black Cats head coach wouldn't say whether Fulham's Jay Stansfield is the man set to arrive.

Stansfield - who impressed on loan with Exeter City last season - is one of four strikers on Sunderland's radar, confirmed Mowbray, who said: "It will be interesting to see which one falls for us."

Sunderland again started without a recognised striker in their line-up for Saturday's visit of Rotherham United, with Jobe Bellingham playing as a makeshift frontman and firing Mowbray's side to their first victory of the season with both goals in the come from behind 2-1 win. But Bellingham's stint up-top will be short-lived, with Sunderland set to confirm the signing of a new frontman.

"I said to you the other day I think they'll be in tomorrow and they obviously weren't, but I'll say to you today I think they'll be in tomorrow," said Mowbray on Saturday evening.

"I think by the next time we meet we'll have been working for a few days with a striker and hopefully he can help the team.

"We must then decide whether we persevere with what's helped us win a football match today or whether we need a different type of threat that this young man will bring.

"Fingers crossed it's moving forward and we're getting stronger with our options. The way we work at this football club, we have two or three or maybe even four names that we're juggling with. The young boy at Fulham, I shouldn't talk about because nothing is done yet, but he's one of the players we've had conversations about, but there are two or three other players we've had conversations about. We are juggling at the minute and it will be interesting to see which one falls for us."

Fulham boss Marco Silva last week revealed that he's in daily contact with Stansfield as the Premier League club decide the best course of action for the 20-year-old striker. Five Championship clubs, including Millwall and QPR, are interested with Fulham carefully considering their options.

Silva said: “It is a good sign that all these clubs — and they are good Championship clubs — want Jay."

“He is a fantastic boy and we all love him at this football club. He wants to play football every single weekend. We are going to make a decision for him, but it depends on our market as well and our squad.

“We don’t want to put him at just any club. He needs to go to a club that plays a certain way.”

The signing of a centre-forward is unlikely to be the end of Sunderland's summer transfer business. Mowbray is anticipating some exits, with those who move on needing to be replaced. Alex Pritchard is set to depart and Danny Batth and Lynden Gooch have both been linked with moves away. Patrick Roberts has also been linked with a Celtic return but Sunderland don't want to lose the former Manchester City wideman.

Mowbray said: "The end of the window generally puts a big line under a period. There is an uncertainty about one or two players at the club still. Hopefully if one or two players move, one or two come in. Let's get to September and talk again about how it looks. "There's still a few weeks of uncertainty for everybody but it will be good to have a player who wants to play down the middle and score goals and wants to get behind teams and get in the box."

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In the absence of a recognised striker - with Hemir again starting on the bench - Bellingham showed his quality and versatility as he fired Sunderland to their first win of the campaign against Rotherham.

The 17-year-old scored either side of half-time after Hakeen Odoffin had driven Rotherham into an early lead.

Mowbray said: "It was important to get a win. At the start of any season, the longer the narrative is teams haven't won a football match, it can drag on and weigh heavy on the team.

"Jobe is disappointed he didn’t get more goals. He had a couple of good chances but he’s in the six-yard box and playing the role we’re asking him to play.

“He had to show good flexibility today because we pushed him higher up the pitch, and he got the goals for us.

“His greatest asset is he wants to learn, he’s asking us coaches questions every single day. He’s a joy to work with.”