Sunderland manager Steve Bruce has admitted he will have to reduce the size of his first-team squad before he can bring in any fresh faces this summer.

Bruce spent heavily during the last off-season to bring the likes of Darren Bent, Lee Cattermole, Fraizer Campbell and Michael Turner to the Stadium of Light.

But with the wage bill at the Wearside club in need of trimming, Bruce has admitted he is looking to offload some fringe members of his squad when the transfer window reopens in July.

"There's not much I'm certain about when it comes to the transfer market, but one thing I do know is that, by the end of it, there will be more players going out than coming in," he told the Sunderland Echo.

"It'll be nothing like last summer when we had stacks of players going out and stacks of players coming in.

"I can't ever envisage doing anything like that again in my time here at this club.

"We're in an area at the moment where we are going for quality rather than quantity, so you are looking at a handful of players, who won't come cheap, but will hopefully take us onto the next level.

"Part of the overall strategy, though, is to ensure that we don't carry surplus players who would have more chances elsewhere.

"I don't want to go into detail, but there would be a significant saving in wages if we were able to move on a number of players who are free to find other clubs.

"The owner has been very generous with his funding but we can't expect him to keep putting his hand in his pocket. "Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email