WITH hardly any time for the dust to settle on Sunderland's Championship title celebrations yesterday, manager Mick McCarthy and chairman Bob Murray are set for a meeting to discuss a plan of action for a pre-season build-up to Premiership football.

McCarthy confirmed last night that midfielder Jeff Whitley has been released, while both Sean Thornton and Mark Lynch have been transfer-listed in preparation for a summer of change on Wearside.

The Sunderland boss has already earmarked a number of players he would like to take to the Stadium of Light but insists those targeted do not have to come at a huge asking price - pointing to this season's emphatic performance in the Football League.

The Black Cats boss, aware that Wigan boss Paul Jewell will be given £25m to spend on his squad before their assault on the top-flight, said: "Does the work ever stop? It's back to the grind straight away. I'm seeing Bob on Monday for a chat.

"It's been a huge thing for this club to win the league and get promoted. We will have a chat and I'm looking forward to it.

"I won't set the agenda when I see him. I will tell Bob that Wigan have got that much to spend.

"But how much did we spend this year? Not a lot. And we have won the league by a good margin (seven points).

"I offloaded a lot of players on a lot of money when I first came and it is not always about the money you spend sometimes, it's more about the quality you bring in.

"There are some players with inflated fees who have self-importance issues. I don't think that applies to any of my players. I might be lucky and get the right players in and I have to make sure that that is the case."

McCarthy, who will lead his side on a victory parade of the city centre tonight, is on the lookout for a number of new players and has made no secret of the fact he intends to replace the departing Marcus Stewart with a proven striker.

But the former Republic of Ireland boss, tracking Birmingham's Clinton Morrison and Ipswich's Darren Bent, would not name those on his hit list.

He said: "There are loads of players who I like and I would like them to do a job in the Premiership for me but there are loads of ifs and buts surrounding whether I can get them.

"I have ones I like and ones I think would be good for the club; it remains to be seen whether we can get them in the summer."

Nearly 48,000 braved the strange weather to witness Sunderland lifting the Football League trophy yesterday, ending the season on a high with a 1-0 victory over Stoke City.

The attendance was 23,000 up on the average crowd at the Stadium of Light this season and McCarthy has urged the stayaway supporters to make sure they return in the Premiership next season.

"The hail came down heavy and it rained on the parade a little didn't it?" said McCarthy. "Who put the sun in Sunderland? It was wonderful.

"But the fans were absolutely brilliant and if there was anything I looked forward to when we went down two years ago it was having a full house and people enjoying it.

"The 25,000 that have been coming here every week have been great and I'm grateful to those. But I embrace all the others and I look forward to see them coming back next year."

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