McCarthy tracking Aussie

Sunderland are watching Partick Thistle centre-back Adrian Madaschi.

Mick McCarthey is interested in signing the Australian as he looks to further bolster his defence following the capture of Neill Collins from Dumbarton.

Madaschi was part of the Partick side that got relegated from the Scottish Premier League last season, playing 23 games and scoring twice.

He represented his country this summer in the Olympic games, which consequently delayed his first game of the season for Partick.

That was on Saturday, and he failed to impress the watching Sunderland scout in a dismal 4-1 defeat to Falkirk.

Yet McCarthey is likely to give the 21-year old some time, and will make a decision on whether to approach the defender after watching him in the coming weeks.

The Black Cats lost the services of Phil Babb and Joachim Bjorkland in the summer, so McCarthey has been restricted to employing Gary Breen and Ben Clark as first choice centre-backs.