Sunderland have seen two bids rejected for Fulham defender Zat Knight.

Black Cats boss Mick McCarthy had made the tall defender one of his top transfer targets as he seeks to add central defensive reinforcements to boost their bid for an immediate return to the top flight. But Fulham are unwilling to sell one of their promising young defenders, even if he is yet to be a regular in Chris Coleman’s side.

McCarthy told the Mirror before this weekend’s clash with Millwall:

“Zat’s under contract and I don’t want to upset anybody.”