Sunderland chairman Ellis Short says they're stepping up their summer market plans.

The Texan tycoon is keen to identify the men he and his manager believe will improve the team rather than attempting to snap up cheap options.

Short told BBC Radio Newcastle: "He [O'Neill] and I have been talking all summer long about what we are going to do.

"The fans have a pretty good idea of what we need to do and everybody has a pretty good idea of what we need to do, so now Martin is looking at specific players that we might want, and then there will be a lot of work and then trying to get those players here.

"But we don't want to sign players just for the sake of signing them, or because it feels like they are inexpensive for some reason.

"We want to identify players who are good and who will definitely improve us, and try to bring them in."