Michael Beale explains his initial thoughts on Sunderland's January transfer window

Michael Beale says he has been told that there is scope to improve the Sunderland squad in January but says he does not want to make major changes and believes he can extract more from the current group.

Sporting director Kristjaan Speakman hinted in Beale's first press conference on Wednesday that the club might look to bring in another striker next month given the struggles so far this season, but said that he also believes Beale can help address the problem on the training ground.

Sunderland's new head coach said he was 'intrigued' by some of the club's recent recruits who he feels there is a lot more to come from, and says that is his initial focus and was the main point of discussion during the lengthy talks which eventually ended with him being named Tony Mowbray's successor.

Part of Sunderland's preparations for next month also involve making contingency plans should Premier League interest in the club's best young talent develop, though Speakman has been clear that they are not looking to sell.

"It wasn't essential for me to get guarantees on the window or anything like that, because I like the team we have," Beale said.

"I'm intrigued by one or two of the players who have been recruited where it's clear to me that there's more to come, so I want to get on the grass and see what they bring. I'll have a fuller judgement when I've been able to work with the players and see some games.

"It wasn't a big part of the discussions, me asking how much is there, what are we going to do and when. It was more about talking about the current squad and maximising on the investment that's already been made, knowing that - just because it came up as we were discussing all of this, there is room for us to do work in line with how we see it. And as much as you want to keep your best players, you never know what's around the corner and so you have to go through that process as well.

"We're always looking and having our lists compiled."

Speakman said that the next recruitment meeting will take place today and that Beale will have his chance to offer his input on anywhere he feels the squad might need strengthening.

"In the process to hire Michael, there wasn't too much [discussion] around the January window specifically," he said.

"I don't think that would be fair on him to pass judgement without seeing the team properly. That's a conversation we've just started this week really, giving our initial thoughts and getting his as well. Then of course when he coaches and takes games, he'll see and feel for himself.

"We've been working to a plan for this window and we'll obviously get his lens on that as well, we've got our next recruitment meeting on Thursday. We always want to try to progress and improve, we all know that January is a tricky window but everything for us is trying to progress."