Sunderland manager Roy Keane will not be tempted into panic buying in January as he plots another transfer window spree.

The 36-year-old has made no secret of his intention to strengthen his squad despite investing more than £35million during the summer in the wake of promotion to the Premier League.

He takes his injury and suspension-hit side to Manchester City on Monday evening and is already starting to whittle down the list of potential targets.

But he is determined not to spend just for the sake of it.

Keane said: "The list has gone from 200 to about 100.  Before you know it, there are eight or nine weeks to go. We can talk about January, but it soon comes up on you.

"We are certainly narrowing it down to a few players we feel would certainly improve the team, and we feel we can get those players.

"We could all sit here and pick out players we would love to have at the club, but realistically you are not going to get certain players because there are players you are looking at out there who are at very good clubs or involved in European football.

"The big and best time to buy, no doubt, is during the summer when you get a chance. It is important we identify the players we want and we are not influenced by agents or the media, and we certainly do not get in a panic situation and buy players for the sake of it.

"But if we can get three or four players in January and get our other lads back, I will be fairly happy."

Keane's resources have been severely stretched already this season despite his close-season spending, with Andrew Cole yet to make his competitive debut for the club and skipper Dean Whitehead, Carlos Edwards, Kieran Richardson, Russell Anderson and Stanislav Varga all out injured.

In addition, for Monday's game he has Paul McShane and Greg Halford suspended after their respective red cards, and that has simply underlined the need for reinforcement.

Keane and chairman Niall Quinn, armed with the financial clout of the Drumaville consortium, worked tirelessly throughout the summer to identify and land many of their targets. However, others got away and the pair know they will perhaps enter an even more difficult market when the window opens on January 1 for a hectic few weeks.

Keane's interest in Manchester United defender Jonny Evans is long standing and well known, although he insists he has had no further contact with Celtic's Bobo Balde since he rejected a three-month loan move to Wearside in August.

The Black Cats are busily building up their scouting network in an effort to identify the men to take them forward, but Keane freely admits there is always an element of risk.

He said: "Whatever player you bring in, there is always an element of a gamble to it.  That's why we need to be careful if we are going to bring in players in January, or at least shorten the odds.

"We are speaking, we are constantly looking at players, like lots of other clubs. But identifying these players is one thing, getting them is another, and that is the challenge we face in January.

"We could all pick out a few players we would like, but getting them is completely different.

"The road we are trying to go down is looking at where the club needs strengthening in certain positions and looking at the players we like, not what agents suggest to us.

"But football is a small world. You go to games and a lot of people tend to talk about the same players all the time."