Bruce mulling over backline

Black Cats boss unsure of defensive line-up

Last updated: 25th November 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Bruce mulling over backline

Bruce: Decisions to make

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Sunderland manager Steve Bruce admits he has a selection headache ahead of this weekend's clash with Wigan.

The Black Cats have summer signing Michael Turner available following suspension for their trip to the DW Arena.

However, John Mensah and Paulo Da Silva impressed against Arsenal last time out and kept a clean sheet against the title-challengers.

Bruce admits finalising his starting XI will not be easy while he is also wary of Wigan's desire to respond following their thrashing at Tottenham.

Decisions

"I've got a few decisions to make in terms of selection and it's not going to be easy," he told The Echo.

"There's competition for places in some areas of the team right now and not in others and I've also got to bear in mind that it's an away game and take into consideration the fact Wigan are going to want to bounce back after a heavy defeat in their last game.

"John did really well to get through the game in the way he did after missing so many games with a succession of niggling injuries. He was struggling by the last 10 minutes and, because of that, we took him off.

"But he doesn't have a serious problem - it was more a case of him starting to cramp up after getting through so much work - and I certainly have a decision to make in that area.

"Paulo Da Silva was outstanding against Arsenal, but John came in and visibly improved as the game went on. It's not easy to keep a clean sheet against Arsenal and he was part of a team that did so.

"Hopefully he can go on a run of games and improve his fitness now. But I also have to think about Michael Turner, who has been terrific for us ever since he signed. It's something we're going to have to think about."

Laughed off

Meanwhile, Bruce has laughed off suggestions from Latics owner Dave Whelan that he was partly to blame for Wigan's humiliating 9-1 loss at White Hart Lane.

Bruce is not reading too much into quotes that suggested Roberto Martinez inherited 'a few dodgy signings' as he believes Whelan was only trying to protect the Spaniard.

"I saw the quotes from Dave Whelan and I know that he was in Barbados at the time, so maybe he'd had one or two glasses of white wine when he made the remarks!" he continued.

"I could respond, but I'm not going to because I don't want it to blow up into something it doesn't have to be.

"I had a great relationship with the Wigan chairman and the one thing he was good at was always trying to protect the manager whenever possible."