Sunderland boss Steve Bruce insists he will not pay 'silly money' in his pursuit of fresh faces during the January transfer window. The former Birmingham and Wigan chief will have money to spend in January, and plans to put it to good use, but he is adamant that he will not be paying over the odds for any of his targets.

"I don't anticipate doing much business in the transfer market in January and any players that I do bring in would have to come in for sensible money," Bruce told the Sunderland Echo.

"I've always said that the January transfer window is a difficult one for managers to get value for money in.

"The top clubs don't want to sell their players because they've got European competition on their mind and the players that are around tend to be either not ideal or on sale for vastly over-inflated fees. We're not going to get involved in that.

"And unless clubs are realistic in their pricing, then we won't be interested - simple as that.

"I know that we could do with bringing in a player or two. I know we could do with a bit of strengthening, but we're not going to pay silly money to do it."