Corry Evans is Sunderland's only specialist holding midfielder but Alex Neil admits that recruiting cover for him is not at the top of his list of priorities. The Black Cats have four senior central midfielders - Evans, Dan Neil, Jay Matete, and Luke O'Nien - along with Carl Winchester, although Neil now appears to primarily view the latter as a defender.
Northern Ireland international Evans plays an important role for Sunderland, breaking up opposition attacks and protecting the centre-backs, and Neil sees the experienced 32-year-old as a key component in his team. But with Sunderland's squad containing players who can operate in that role if needed, Neil will concentrate on bringing in cover for other areas before looking to add specialist cover for Evans.
"Time will tell," said Neil, when asked if he would bring in backup for Evans. "What happens is that we have a list of priorities and you work through your list in terms of where you think you need to try and strengthen.
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"What might happen is that there might be five positions, but I might only have the luxury of getting four. I might get three, or I might get seven. I'm not quite sure. It depends how much they cost, who's available, can we get it done - there are hundreds of things that go into that."
And of Evans' role in the side, he added: "When you think about the deep-lying midfielder role, Corry is a specialist there. It's similar with Alex Pritchard - he is a specialist number ten.
"Whereas there are other players who don't fit specialist roles, what they are is a six/eight or and eight/ten. That's not just the situation in midfield, though. It's the same in a variety of different roles.
"Some guys can play as a centre-forward but prefer to play off a centre-forward, there are players who can play in a wide area but can flip to the other side. I think that variety is a good thing for us, but when we're talking about number sixes in particular, I think Corry is a specialist in that role.
"That's what he does, and he does it extremely well."
Sunderland signed Matete from Fleetwood in January and Neil says he is still trying to work out the 21-year-old's best midfield position. He said: "Jay is a young lad. He spent time Fleetwood, and six months [on loan] at Grimsby.
"I still think we're trying to figure out what Jay is, because he is kind of in between a number six and a number eight."
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