Sheffield Wednesday remain hopeful of prising Connor Wickham away from Sunderland.

The Mirror says Black Cats boss Gus Poyet is reluctant to let the England U21 hitman - who also had a month at Hillsborough last season - leave on loan again as star striker Steven Fletcher is struggling with an Achilles problem.

Wednesday manager Stuart Gray, whose side are unbeaten in 11 matches since Christmas, said: "We desperately want Connor to come back, the boy wants to come back and we are keeping that door open. But we still have to look elsewhere as well."