SUNDERLAND were last night weighing up whether to strengthen their interest in either Jay Bothroyd or Ricardo Fuller as they failed to bring in Darren Bent's replacement in time to face Blackpool today.

The Black Cats' attempts to add a striker before the trip to Bloomfield Road may have come up short, but manager Steve Bruce has been in regular contact with chairman Niall Quinn.

Sources in south Wales claim Sunderland have been in touch with Cardiff City to test the water over the availability of their 15-goal man Bothroyd in the last 48 hours.

Bruce decided to turn to the 28-year-old after learning Stoke City are understood to be looking for around £5m for 31-year-old Fuller following the arrival of Aston Villas John Carew on loan.

Now Sunderland are likely to spend the weekend trying to make progress on either front, with both Fuller and £3m-rated Bothroyd the front-runners to come in and fill the void left by Bent.

Bothroyd is out of contract in the summer and free to leave for nothing, but Stoke could also lower their asking price for Fuller in fear Sunderland will drop their interest and push through a cheaper deal for a younger alternative.

Bruce is keen to add to his squad before the visit of Chelsea on February 1 and a new striker is a priority, although there is thought to have been further progress in a move for Stephane Sessegnon.

Sessegnon has resumed training with Paris St Germain this week, but Sunderland are hoping to pull off a permanent deal for the attacking midfielder in the next ten days.

Everton are also interested, but PSG are thought to prefer a permanent transfer as opposed to the loan deal that the Toffees prefer before the transfer window closes in nine days.

Sunderland have been warned, though, to forget about signing Danny Welbeck on a permanent basis by Sir Alex Ferguson, after it was suggested Bruce was preparing a £7m offer for a loan signing that has will miss the next six weeks after knee surgery.

"Steve has as much chance of getting me," Ferguson said. "It is unfortunate Danny will be out for six weeks because he was playing so well. He has shown fantastic form and he is only 20."

This afternoon will not be about Welbeck. It will all be about how Sunderland cope in the absence of Bent, with Bruce confident Asamoah Gyan will be able to lead the line on his own at Blackpool.

The £13m buy from Rennes has scored eight goals since his deadline day switch from France in August, with his latest goal arriving in the 94th minute of last Sundays Wear-Tyne derby.

"It's very rare to come from another country and hit it off straight away," said Bruce. "It takes time and Asa has scored more goals than Bent from open play, he's a good player and now he's our only striker.

"We expect him to come to the table. The only thing is if something  happens to him then we're truly goosed. He'll relish the responsiblity, he likes that. I've got no problem of him playing on his own. Well see what we can bring in and what we can do."

The departure of Bent in a deal worth £24m to Aston Villa on Tuesday could have been perceived across the country as another occasion when Sunderland have been forced to sell against their wishes.

But Bruce thinks Sunderland have shown in the last few years that they are a club making continual progress, rather than when they had to constantly cash in on their top talents.

"Do you think Man U wanted to sell Ronaldo," he said. "If a player really wants to go then in my experience, then you say on your way.

"In football everyone has their price. There was a time on Sunday

night when I would have said no, leave him here and if he wants to, we'll let him rot in the reserves but that can't happen anymore.

"You just then have a disgruntled player who doesn't want to be here, doesn't want to train here and upsets what we've got which is the spirit in the dressing room, which you try hard to keep strong.

"We've built a reputation as a club trying to go forward, everyone can see that and I'm determined it won't derail that. It's a fantastic amount of money but we lost a really good player. We were within our rights to say no to Darren, but who does that now?"

Bruce conceded that he will be forced to revert to playing Gyan as a lone striker at Bloomfield Road, where he also admitted that Bolo Zenden will slot in to the middle of midfield.