SUNDERLAND have conceded defeat in their attempts to prise top transfer target Jon Stead away from Huddersfield Town.

But Black Cats boss Mick McCarthy is convinced his crop of strikers will soon bounce back to form - hopefully against Burnley this afternoon.

Stead has been the subject of an £800,000 bid from Sunderland, who have been desperately trying to strengthen their attacking options.

Huddersfield rejected the offer out of hand and they have raised their valuation of the player to near £1.5m.

The Terriers believe they will be able to find a buyer despite the inflated price for a promising Division Three forward, who has struck 12 goals this season.

Nearly 20 clubs - including Premiership giants Manchester United and Liverpool - have sent their scouts to watch the 20-year-old.

And that has played its part in Sunderland's failure to land their man, although McCarthy did hint there could be a renewed raid later in the campaign.

"We had an interest in him and we made inquiries about him but as far as I'm concerned it is now dead," said McCarthy, who cast an eye over Motherwell trio Dave Clarkson, Stephen Pearson and Steven Hammell on Tuesday night.

"I still like him so we have still got an interest in him but I'm interested in other players as well."

Sunderland have failed to score in six of their last eight matches and they go into today's match with Burnley having drawn three of their last four on home soil 0-0.

But McCarthy believes his team are sure to find their feet in front of goal against a side who are only five points above a relegation place.

"It's a concern we haven't been scoring but we are working on it," said McCarthy, whose side welcome third-placed Wigan to the Stadium of Light on Tuesday night.

"If you look through previous seasons there are times when teams score lots of goals and times when they don't. It's just the same as conceding goals.

"We have had that spell and we want to come out of it. We are working hard to come through it.

"I don't go into any games thinking it's vital that we win. We have been playing very well and what we need is a break in front of goal.

"There's no apprehension at all when we play at home. We have played well here, we may not have scored but we have played well. Coventry was the only game where I would say we haven't."

A Sunderland victory today will strengthen their place in the play-off zone and it could close the gap to the top two - Norwich City and West Brom.

And McCarthy, who knows his side could also drop out of the top six with a defeat against Burnley, is amazed how close the promotion race is this season.

"I would imagine every club in Division One would have expected one club to break away and they haven't," he said. "When we lost at Crewe I'm sure there were clubs that thought 'thank goodness Sunderland got beat there'.

"It's a fairly even league. Every team can beat every other team. No club has got a far superior squad than everyone else.

"Wolves, Reading, Sheff United and Forest were all similar last year. But Portsmouth and Leicester were miles in front and you could tell they would win it at this stage.

"I think we could be in a better position than what we are. But at the start of the season I think everyone connected with the club would have been happy with the position we are in now.

"To be five points off a promotion place going into Christmas, everyone here would have taken that in August. But because I have seen the league and the way we have played I think we could be better placed. We could have more points and be further up the league." Midfielder Jason McAteer is not in contention for a place despite making his comeback from a hamstring injury in the reserves' win over Manchester United on Thursday.

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