Chief football writer Paul Fraser this week asked the Legends: Following the closure of the transfer window, which of the North-East's big three clubs are best equipped for the rest of the year?

MICKY HORSWILL

Sunderland: There’s only one answer. Newcastle and Middlesbrough haven’t really bought anyone, while Steve Bruce has brought in seven players.

Sunderland are miles ahead of the other two.

I said last week that I was disappointed to see Danny Collins leave because I was wary of having just George McCartney as the only recognised left-back available.

Those fears were realised this week when George got injured on international duty for Northern Ireland. Now we have to face up to six weeks or so without a left-back.

If you look at the Premier League, the best players at the moment are all attacking full-backs. Glen Johnson, Patrice Evra, Gael Clichy – all the top clubs have them. We don’t have that and that’s a mistake.

Having said that, though, Sunderland are still better placed than Newcastle and Boro – by far.

MALCOLM MACDONALD

Newcastle: We are not equipped at all to deal with injuries. The squad is so threadbare that it provoked an attitude among the players to pull together and perform.

That’s part of the reason for the good start and it’s credit to them all for the way they have gone about it while the club is being run the way it is.

I was in the Press box for the last home game against Leicester and I was looking at the team sheet with some experienced journalists and footballers. There were four or five players on that team sheet we had not even heard of.

Good luck to the youngsters and, as a manager, I used to think it was fantastic to blood the youngsters, just not as many as Newcastle are having to blood at the moment.

It goes without saying that for what the three clubs are looking to do this season, Sunderland are in the best place right now. They have signed plenty players, neither us nor Boro have signed many.

BERNIE SLAVEN

Middlesbrough: I really think that Sunderland have brought in good players and in healthy numbers, so they have clearly enjoyed the better transfer window. Micky is patting me on the back for that but it’s hard to disagree.

I still fear for Boro because the spine of the team still needs improvement. I don’t know a lot about Sean St Ledger, the Ireland international they are looking to sign, but that is not enough for me.

He might help strengthen the defence following the departure of Robert Huth and he might form a good partnership with David Wheater at the back, but they still need a centremidfielder and a strapping centre-forward.

In an ideal world Gareth (Southgate) would have been heading into this weekend with the team in place for the rest of the season. That’s not going to happen.

It actually looks like next week will be an important one, with a new striker following a defender.

Either way, we are still not as equipped for where we want to go as Sunderland are for where they want to be.