Sunderland's reported chase for Cardiff's Aden Flint has taken a fresh twist, with the Black Cats now believed to be in the running for Stoke City defender Danny Batth.
According to The Sun, Sunderland have moved ahead of rival suitors Sheffield Wednesday in the race for the 31-year-old, who has fallen down the pecking order at the bet365 Stadium.
It remains to be seen what interest in the former Wolves man means for the future of Flint, who has been heavily linked with a move to Wearside in the last few days.
Flint himself is one of a number of Cardiff first-team stars out of contract at the end of season, and the chance to cash in on the 32-year-old could yet prove an attractive proposition.
Cardiff's defensive record has been poor so far this season but they have been boosted by the arrival of Leeds United's Cody Drameh.
Former Whites striker Noel Whelan has backed the youngster to be a success in the capital.
Drameh completed a loan move to Cardiff City Stadium last week, and was put straight into the line-up to face Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.
Drameh was reasonably highly rated at Leeds, with boss Marcelo Bielsa admitting that the player himself had pushed for the move to south Wales.
Whelan believes it's a development that could prove beneficial to both the Bluebirds and Drameh himself, adding that the time was right for the full-back to move on.
“This will do him the world of good, it really will," he told Football Insider. "Playing with a good team in Cardiff in a very, very, strong competitive league in the Championship.
“I think this is where he’s going to learn a lot more about himself. He’s going to develop himself as a player and he will come back a much better and much stronger personality and player at the end of it.
“In my day, we got this experience in the reserves. We were up against proper men when we were young boys.
“We had to learn quickly about ourselves, how we needed to adapt to that kind of level. I think this is what they’re learning now, but in a different way, when they go out on loan.”
Meanwhile, Cardiff have confirmed that supporters who purchased a Match Pass for Saturday's defeat to Blackburn will receive a full refund.
With the game held behind closed doors, a number of fans purchased log-ins to watch the match at the Cardiff City Stadium, but many supporters were still left unable to watch the game due to technical issues.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the club said: "Being unable to have supporters at Cardiff City Stadium in person for the game was incredibly frustrating for us all, compounded by the login issues that affected those who supported the Club remotely in purchasing a Match Pass.
"We appreciate this support and are sorry for those whose experience was affected. We understand that the issues also affected other clubs using the same service as us on the day.
"A full refund will be credited to supporters from the bank account with which they purchased Saturday’s Match Pass."
Returning to the January window, former Cardiff loanee Dion Sanderson is set to be made available for loan again this month.
The Wolves defender enjoyed a highly successful loan spell in the capital two years ago, before going on to enjoy similarly solid spells at League One Sunderland and Championship rivals Birmingham City.
According to the Daily Mail, Wolves could now decide to send Sanderson out again, with the Premier League side believed to be assessing several enquiries.
Birmingham, where he was on loan to earlier this season, Bristol City and QPR are all believed to be monitoring the situation.
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