SUNDERLAND have warned fans not to expect a rush of transfer activity this month - with manager Mick McCarthy more concerned about getting four of his first-team regulars back.

With the deal to bring Swiss midfielder Ricardo Cabanas from Grasshopper apparently dead, the Black Cats' boss has admitted he is unlikely to be too busy wheeling and dealing.

Cash from the deal that took Carl Robinson to Norwich will go towards the summer transfer kitty, and his priority is the return of injury victims Kevin Kyle, George McCartney, and Stephen's, Wright and Elliott.

All four are just weeks from first-team action, and Kyle is earmarked to play 90 minutes for the reserves against Manchester United's second string at Durham next week.

"The players I would like to sign to play in the next two or three weeks are Kyler (Kevin Kyle), George (McCartney), Wrighty (Stephen Wright) and Stephen Elliott," said McCarthy, who re-iterated he only wants players at the club who are prepared for the long haul.

"They are all within a good shout of coming back. Those players would have been regulars in my team - all of them.

"To sign someone now to make a huge difference to us . . . is it likely that I will get that player?

"I admire the lads here and how they keep going. I don't want to go out and sign someone as a panic move, or what could be construed as that.

"I don't want someone who is thinking 'I wish I hadn't come here' in three months time, someone who, if the worst does happen, is trying to get out of it.

"It would have to be someone who is here for next season, a player who, if the worst does happen and we are relegated, would be right for the Championship.

"It has to be someone who fully understands the situation but is still prepared to come on board now. Someone who is prepared to have a scrap like the rest of us."

One player who is on his way is Matt Piper, with the injury-plagued midfielder leaving Sunderland after just 29 appearances in almost three-and-a-half years.

The Black Cats confirmed his contract has been terminated by mutual consent after a nightmare stay on Wearside.

Piper, 24, joined the club in a £3.5m switch from Leicester in August 2002.

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