Sunderland boss Dick Advocaat hopes to strengthen his squad further over the coming weeks.

The Black Cats have so far signed Sebastian Coates from Liverpool and Adam Matthews from Celtic, but Advocaat wants to bring in a few more new faces before they take on Leicester in the opening round of Premier League fixtures.

Sunderland will jet out to the USA and Canada for a pre-season tour this weekend and Advocaat hopes that there will be some new recruits at the Stadium of Light by the time they return in two weeks’ time.

He told the Chronicle: “We still hope that one or two players will come in this week, or later.

“But we will definitely have some more by then [when they return from Canada] or there is something wrong.”

Advocaat revealed he has a number of targets in mind but refused to mention any specific names and stressed he will only bring in players who he feels can improve Sunderland.

He added: “If I cannot get the right players, I don’t buy them. I don’t like to waste money.

“I’m looking for players that I know will make the team better. That’s it. Not the same level, a little bit better.

“I know what I want, but it is not so easy to get them in.

“We have several things going on at the moment, but not so close that they are nearly signing.”

Sunderland are 4.00 to win their opening fixture at Leicester. The Foxes are priced at 1.95 to take all three points and the draw is 3.25.