Advocaat: New signings bring competitive edge to Sunderland

Sunderland manager Dick Advocaat believes his squad is much stronger after a busy transfer window, but insists no player is guaranteed a place in his starting line-up.

Advocaat brought in eight new faces before last week's deadline, including former loanee Fabio Borini on a permanent deal from Liverpool.

And the Dutchman is confident that the squad is now competitive enough to put in improved performances as Sunderland aim to secure their first win of the Premier League season when Tottenham visit the Stadium of Light on Sunday.

Advocaat told the club's official website: "We now have a squad that can compete with each other. Everybody has to show that they deserve to play.

"The players that we brought in all have certain qualities and everybody understands what they have to do.

"Unfortunately we haven’t had the full squad together over the last few weeks because of the international games, but we are looking forward to confirming our set-up."