SUNDERLAND striker Chris Brown is expected to complete a loan move to Hull City tomorrow morning.

Championship leaders Sheffield United have also been competing for the 20-year-old's signature but, while the Blades already boast a healthy contingent of forwards, Hull are much more likely to provide him with first-team football.

While the transfer window closed last week, temporary loans to the Football League are permitted from Thursday night and Brown is likely to be one of the first players to take advantage of the change in rules.

Whatever happens, the youngster will not be in the squad that travels to Chelsea this weekend as the Black Cats look to earn their first point of the season.

A clash with the champions is hardly the easiest of fixtures after the international break, but midfielder Dean Whitehead feels a trip to Stamford Bridge could be just the kind of challenge Sunderland need to kick-start their campaign.

"Nobody expects us to get anything from the Chelsea game, which is fair enough," said Whitehead, who has been the Black Cats' most consistent performer in their first four games.

"People have said it's not the game we would want to come back to after the international break but I think it could be a good one.

"It's a game to look forward to. People will be talking about how many we're going to get beaten by and there will be absolutely no pressure on us.

"That might be just what we require. Football is a strange game and strange results can happen sometimes."

Newcastle know all about strange results after Fulham left St James' Park with a 4-1 win last season and, with the Cottagers due to return to Tyneside on Saturday, Steven Taylor has pledged to open his account in a black and white shirt.

The centre-half's volley earned England Under-21s a 1-1 draw in Germany on Tuesday night but, so far, he has been unable to repeat that goalscoring form on the domestic stage.

All eyes will be on new signing Michael Owen this weekend but Taylor is hoping to upstage Newcastle new £16m man by finding the net himself.

"While all the attention is on Michael, maybe I can steal in and score," said the teenage defender. "But after scoring (for the Under-21s) the usual odds of 50-1 on me grabbing the first goal might come down a bit.

"I was absolutely buzzing to get on the scoresheet - it was a tremendous feeling to score my first international goal. I was going to go wild with a celebration but I think I'll save that for when I get my first goal for Newcastle."

Middlesbrough youngster Adam Johnson is another player to have impressed while on international duty this week.

The Wearside-born winger created two of England Under-19s' goals in their 3-2 win over Belgium at Darlington on Tuesday night and won the praise of his coach, Martin Hunter