LEICESTER CITY are confident they can fend off an 11th hour bid from Sunderland for striker David Connolly.

The West Ham forward has already had a medical with the Foxes after a £500,000 bid was accepted earlier in the week.

But Sunderland - who completed the signing of defender Mark Lynch yesterday - have acted by launching an increased bid for the player and both clubs have been given permission from West Ham to talk to Connolly.

Leicester boss Micky Adams returned from a pre-season tour of Finland yesterday and is still expecting Connolly to sign a contract at the Walkers Stadium today.

Director of football Dave Bassett, left in charge of negotiations while Adams has been in Scandinavia, insisted last night that the 27-year-old will turn down Sunderland.

"We are still waiting for that deal to be completed," said Bassett. "David is just tying one or two loose ends up at West Ham. Then, when those are sorted, he will sign."

Sunderland remain optimistic that Connolly will opt for a move to Wearside and team up again with his former Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy. The former Wimbledon man nearly joined the Black Cats this time last season from the Dons, but West Ham offered more money.

And Sunderland chairman Bob Murray admits once again that their chances of signing the player this time lie firmly in Connolly's hands.

"David Connolly is a player we are interested in," said Murray. "We made an offer to West Ham on Monday while the player was at Leicester City having his medical.

"West Ham accepted our bid, as it was a superior offer, and we are now in discussions with the player and his representative. The final decision lies with David. We all recognise the need for an additional striker and David has played for Mick McCarthy at international level and has played alongside Gary Breen and Colin Healy."

McCarthy remains on the lookout for a new forward after allowing both Darren Byfield and Tommy Smith to leave.

The manager is keen to add more firepower to compete with Kevin Kyle, Marcus Stewart and Stephen Elliott for a place in the starting line-up this season.

The confirmation of a bid for Connolly came on the same day Sunderland announced the arrival of another young gun - Manchester United's Lynch.

The 22-year-old has signed a three-year deal and he follows Liam Lawrence, Elliott, Carl Robinson and Dean Whitehead to the Stadium of Light.

Lynch played in the Champions League defeat to Deportivo la Coruna in March last year and has been at Old Trafford since a schoolboy, although he did spend time on loan at St Johnstone three years ago.

And McCarthy said: "Mark is another young player with huge potential. He has experience of being around top players and has played at the highest level, having been involved in European games with Manchester United. He's a player who has the ability to challenge for a first team spot and he will be linking up with our other young, promising, exciting players."

Lynch revealed there were other sides chasing his signature but he jumped at the chance to work with McCarthy. He said: "There was interest from other clubs but I wanted to sign for Sunderland. It's a great club, has a good fan base and as soon as I spoke to Mick McCarthy I was impressed."

Meanwhile, Sunderland's first leg of their American tour was abandoned. McCarthy's men were trailing 2-1 to a USL Carolina Allstars XI when the players were taken off due to a tropical storm. Whitehead had scored his first goal for Sunderland in the friendly. Sunderland play Charleston Battery tomorrow.

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