Sunderland boss Roy Keane admits he'll be buying top-line experience during the January market.

Keane told the Sunday Sun: "If we are looking at bringing in, say, three or four players in January they will have to be experienced. We won't be bringing in vast numbers of players, but those we do bring in will be of pure quality - they will have the CVs to back that up after playing at the top level for a lot of years.

"It's about the type of player you bring in, because any player we sign next month will need to hit the ground running. We are looking for experienced players who know the Premier League, but there aren't many of them out there who will be available.

"So we are in talks with one or two clubs abroad, too."

Keane is aiming to bring in several new players when the window opens in 10 days' time - if all goes according to plan.

"We've got a few players lined up, but it would be wrong of me to go into numbers," he said. "If things come off, we could be one of the bigger spending clubs in January.

"But we don't want to get people's hopes up because some things might not come off. We found out last summer that, even though we had money to spend, sometimes deals don't come off."

He added: "A lot of the players we brought in over the summer were making the step up to the Premier League - it was a test for them.

"Most of them have done very well, but they are still inexperienced at the top level. You need experience. When you look at Everton, they have got Lee Carsley, Man City have got Didi Hamann and Bolton have got Ivan Campo.

"We've got Dwight Yorke but there is always room for more experienced players in your side. I wouldn't rule out getting one or two more in, but I don't want to sign players too late in their careers."