After being linked in recent weeks with moves to the likes of Sheffield Wednesday, Leicester City and Norwich, Irish midfielder Graham Kavanagh has expressed the hope that he can stay at Sunderland in the wake of his first game for the club in more than a year at the weekend.

Kavanagh, who spent the early part of this season on loan at Wednesday, has been targeted by a number of managers, only for his salary to prove a stumbling block. Still, Sunderland manager Roy Keane said on Friday he was surprised the 34-year-old had failed to secure a move away.

Keane, who needs to move players on in order to add to his squad, has strongly suggested that Kavanagh doesn't feature in his plans. He said last week that he feels he is being "fair" with the player by not seeking a fee for him.

The suggestion seemed to be that covering any part of wages he is due on the rest of his contract is out of the question, but that means the Dubliner would almost certainly have to accept a substantial pay cut to wrap up a deal with a Championship side.

The player's cause may not have been helped by being involved with Sunderland's humiliating cup defeat at home to Wigan on Saturday, a result he described as "sickening".

But Kavanagh insists he hopes that game does not mark the end of his time at the Stadium of Light.

"I would prefer not to move on, if I am honest," he says. "I want to be playing, but we will wait and see what happens in the next three or four weeks. I played on Saturday, was in the squad at Blackburn and hopefully I will be in the squad for the Portsmouth game next weekend."

Kavanagh feels he did well enough against his former club on Saturday, but concedes that the result comfortably overshadowed any minor positives that might have emerged.

"I thought I got on the ball and everything, but ultimately we lost and my individual performance is irrelevant after that. When you have lost 3-0 at home, there is not a great deal anyone can take from it.

"I am very, very disappointed, and hope I get another chance, but whether that happens or not, I don't know - it is up to the gaffer."

The future of one of the players Keane is looking to make space for, Stephen Hunt, remains uncertain. But the midfielder clearly suggested in the wake of Reading's draw with Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday that he is open to a switch to the English northeast.

Having scored both of his side's goals and turned in another strong performance, the midfielder only underlined his value to his current club. Manager Steve Coppell, who lavished praise on the 26-year-old afterwards, is unlikely to let him go for anything like the €3.75 million Sunderland are believed to have offered so far.

Stephen's older brother, Noel, meanwhile, is also a transfer target, with Dundee United having confirmed that they have refused an offer from Blackpool for the former Shamrock Rovers striker over the weekend.

Hunt has scored 13 goals for the Scottish Premier League side, and United chairman Eddie Thompson said Blackpool's offer was "nowhere near our valuation".

Former under-21 international goalkeeper Graham Stack has extended his loan period at Wolves until the end of the season. Stack moved to Molineux from Reading at the start of the season and made two League Cup starts before having to undergo surgery on a cartilage injury.

He is fit again, and said yesterday he hopes to do enough over the coming months to earn a long-term deal.