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Hull City v Sunderland preview

Sunderland head to the KC stadium tomorrow looking to further dent Hull’s already slim chances of Premier League survival.

Hull were beaten 2-0 by Aston Villa midweek and are in desperate need of three points if they are to escape the drop zone and catch West Ham, currently four points ahead of them.

Hull manager Iain Dowie said: “We’ve got to make sure come Sunderland we put three points on the board – no question about that.”

The controversy over Hull’s precarious financial position also paints a worrying picture as the Tigers drink in the last chance saloon. Current chairman Adam Pearson this week pointed the finger at his predecessor Paul Duffen as relegation looms.

Sunderland arrive at the KC stadium with little to play for after successfully securing their Premier League status for another season with a 2-1 win over Burnley last weekend.

However, after starting the season like a train before a mid-season slide Sunderland could still meet their aim of finishing in the top 10. With fixtures against Hull and Wolves approaching and the visit of Manchester United in between Sunderland will be looking to chase the pack ahead.

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce said: “We had a wonderful start, a horrible middle and at the moment we’re having a decent end to our season.

“If we can get another couple of wins before now and the end of the season it will have been one of those nearly seasons that could have taken off.”

Sunderland will see this game as an ideal opportunity to improve their dreadful away record, winning just one game on the road all season. They also have a chance to get their first back-to-back victories of the campaign.

The black cats go into the game having won all three of their previous Premier League encounters and all of the last five games against Hull.

TEAM NEWS

Hull will be forced to make at least on change to their team against Aston Villa in midweek as striker Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink suffered a blow to the head and was carried off on a stretcher. The Dutchman was taken for a CT scan that confirmed no lasting damage however tomorrows game will come too soon for him.

Either Jozy Altidore or Geovanni could be thrown in as replacements with Iain Dowie in dire need of a win.

Sunderland have captain Lorik Cana back in contention after a groin injury that could mean youngster David Meyler drops to the bench.

Sunderland look set to have two former Hull City players in their starting XI with stand in captain Michael Turner proving a rock at the back so far this season. Fraizer Campbell should also start after snubbing Hull in the summer for Sunderland and having a successful loan spell with the Tigers.

The match will come too soon for midfielder Lee Cattermole and Andy Reid and George McCartney both ruled out with hamstring injuries.

Possible starting teams:

Hull City: Duke, McShane, Sonko, Mouyokolo, Dawson, Fagan, Cairney, Boateng, Kilbane, Bullard, Altidore.

Sunderland: Gordon, Hutton, Turner, Ferdinand, Richardson, Campbell, Cana, Henderson, Malbranque, Jones, Bent.

James Gollagly’s prediction: Hull City 1-3 Sunderland

Tweet revenge for Bent

Sunderland 3 Tottenham Hotspur 1

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce praised his team for producing a “truly fantastic spectacle” against Tottenham in an action packed game at the Stadium of Light.

Darren Bent scored twice and missed two penalties against his former club as the Black Cats dented Spurs’ Champions League hopes.

The £10million striker struck after just 34 seconds and grabbed a second from the spot in the 29th minute to take his tally to 23 for the season.

Bent was then denied twice from the spot by Huerelio Gomez either side of half-time and Anton Ferdinand also had a goal disallowed.

Peter Crouch came off the bench to pull one back for the visitors with a 72nd minute header but Bolo Zenden put the game beyond Tottenham’s reach with a spectacular volley four minutes from full-time.

Bruce said: “If you go back eight weeks and think of the dross we dished up and then compare that to what we produced today, that’s what we’re in football for.

“The game had everything – missed chances, goals, great goals, great performances and I’m sure the fans enjoyed it.

“The lads gave me everything and we got out of the traps brilliantly.

“I don’t know why our goal was disallowed but there was all sorts happening. I can’t remember three penalties in one game and two of them being missed.

“In the end it was a truly fantastic spectacle capped by a great goal. Bolo needed that after the one he’d missed previously!

The atmosphere was brilliant and we can reflect on a great result.”

Bardsley considers Sunderland future

Sunderland defender Phil Bardsley has admitted he may be forced quit the Stadium of Light to secure first-team football.

The 24-year-old had been a regular for the Black Cats during the first half of the season but has found his opportunities limited since the arrival of Alan Hutton in January.

With manager Steve Bruce keen to sign Hutton on a permanent basis in the summer it has forced Bardsley to consider his future on Wearside.

Bardsley returned to the side on Sunday in place of the injured Hutton, and will continue at right-back for the visit of  Tottenham as the Scot is ineligible.

He said: “It was nice to be involved again – every footballer wants to play football. If you’re playing, you’re happy and it’s the same for me.

“Phil Bardsley doesn’t get down because Alan Hutton comes in and plays – Phil Bardsley will look after himself and keep himself in the best shape he can.

“If it’s to be at Sunderland or somewhere else, you just never know. All I want to do is play football and we’ll just have to wait and see.

“Obviously, if you’re not part of the manager’s plans you have to look elsewhere and move on as every player does. I’m just looking forward to the remainder of the season and we’ll take it from there.

“If it was up to me, I’d like to stay. I enjoy it up here but I’m not the manager, and as every player will tell you, if you’re not playing you’re not happy. We’ll wait and see.

“I have a good relationship with the manager. I’ve still got a year on my contract. Hopefully I’ll stay but we’ll see.”

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce says he understands Bardsley’s frustration at losing his place in the side.

“I can totally understand Phil’s position,” he said. “I know the lad well; I’ve known him since he was a boy.

“I would be the same. If you’ve got anything about you as a footballer, not getting in the team isn’t a pleasing thing.

“Everything else can be great but if you’re not playing on a Saturday something gets to you.

“I have not made any decisions on anyone’s future. We will look at that in the summer.”

Bruce: We had our backsides kicked

Liverpool 3 Sunderland 0

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce has admitted he will struggle to take any positives from his side’s performance after they were outclassed by Liverpool.

Bruce was forced to concede the Black Cats’ had their “backsides kicked” by a Liverpool side who dominated the match from start to finish at Anfield.

The win moves the Reds up to fifth, four points behind Tottenham who have a game in hand, while Sunderland are eight points clear 0f the drop zone in 13th.

Liverpool took the lead in the third minute when Fernando Torres cut in from the left and curled an unstoppable shot beyond Craig Gordon.

Glen Johnson’s deflected shot made it two on the half hour before Torres scored his 20th of the season with a cool finish in the 60th minute.

Bruce said: “Sometimes in football you have to say you were well beaten and today we’ve got our backsides kicked, it’s as simple as that.

“Liverpool were far too good for us. Maybe two away games in such a short space of time took something out of us and we had injuries, but I don’t want to look for excuses.”

“We simply weren’t good enough to get anywhere near a very good Liverpool team. Gerrard and Torres gave a masterclass and we simply couldn’t contain them.

“Their first goal was a wonder goal. Sometimes you have to take a beating; Liverpool have some world-class players and we’ve seen that today.

“We’ll analyse it and ask whether they were simply that good or whether we were poor.

Bruce made two changes from the team that drew with Aston Villa on Wednesday, with Phil Bardsley and Lorik Cana coming in for the injured Alan Hutton and John Mensah.

“We had to make a couple of changes and when a chance comes along for someone else you expect them to take it,” said Bruce.

“We were all over the place in the first half and were slightly better in the second, but it was all over by then.

“There were not many positives to take, to tell you the truth.”

Bruce blasts complacent Cats

Sunderland 3 Birmingham City 1

Bruce was delighted with Sunderland’s quick start but blasted his side’s second-half display. 

Darren Bent sent a World Cup reminder to England manager Fabio Capello by scoring two goals inside the first 11 minutes to take his tally for the season to 21.

Birmingham rallied in the second half and Cameron Jerome’s strike on the hour made it a nervy final 30 minutes for the home side.

The Black Cats were forced to rely on a series of  saves from Craig Gordon to keep the visitors at bay before Fraizer Campbell put the game beyond doubt two minutes from time.

The result leaves Bruce’s side 10 points clear of the relegation zone with eight games remaining.

Bruce said: “Yes, we got a goal in the last minute – but anyone who was at the game witnessed the two sides of us.

“We were very good in the first half but in the second we showed complacency, took our foot off the gas and all those other clichés.

“We have our goalkeeper to thank because he was absolutely sensational. Craig was brilliant against Manchester City and was great again today. He’s proved just what a good goalkeeper he is.

“It was nice to get off to a good start but I’m disappointed with the second half. I will look at it tomorrow – probably hungover! The first half was terrific but there were warning signs just before the break.

“I wanted us to get going again straight from the restart but we simply didn’t get out of the blocks.

“We must erase that second-half performance. Some people have the ‘it could only happen to us’ mentality [about late goals] and I won’t keep accepting it. We must change that if we possibly can.”

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Quinn: Bruce will be manager next season

Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn has insisted Steve Bruce will not be sacked even if the club are relegated.

The Black Cats ended a 14-game win-less run with a 4-0 victory at home to Bolton on Tuesday night but Bruce’s position remains a source of debate amongst supporters.

Quinn remains convinced that Bruce is the man to take the club forward - a view shared by American owner Ellis Short, who visited Wearside last week to offer his support to the manager and his players.

He said: “I can assure you now that even if we don’t win another game between now and the end of the season, Steve will be manager here next year. If we go down, he’ll still be the manager.

“Ellis is a big admirer of Steve and that continued despite the disappointing run we’ve had.

“Thankfully, he’s a realist and knows that this game can be tough.

“He knows that things rarely go smoothly in football and that there were a lot of factors such as injuries and suspensions and sometimes just the drop of the ball, that hampered us during that time.

“Ellis lets us run the business and he’s not affected by the message boards or the media speculation. He has faith in me and my chief executive Steve Walton and he has faith in the manager we thought was the perfect person to take the club forward.

“Despite the results the owner never once questioned whether we had the right manager.”

While Quinn is confident that Sunderland will retain their Premier League status, he revealed the club has taken steps to protect itself should the worst happen.

“We have got ourselves structurally very sound to deal with all eventualities,” he said. “Obviously the preferred eventuality is spending to improve the squad and move up the table.

“We do have an aim of being an established top-ten club over time, but we don’t want to find ourselves desperately losing sleep in April over whether we are going to be in this league every year.

“Nothing will hurt this club in the way it might have in the past. Anybody who comes to this club has to agree to a 40 per cent deduction in the event of us getting relegated and it’s the same for senior staff and players already here who sign a new contract.”

Stronger

The Black Cats are about to release their latest financial figures, with Quinn expecting them to reveal a £26million loss for 2008-09 - but that figure represents the most recent investment in the squad.

He said: “The accounts will show the word loss, but that should really be interpreted as extra signings. We could easily shown a profit, but we wouldn’t have [Michael] Turner, [Darren] Bent, [Lee] Cattermole or [Lorik] Cana.

Chief executive Steve Walton says the club remain on a solid financial footing with Texan tycoon Short converting a £48m loan into shares last summer.

He said: “What it means is that the money is effectively there forever and can’t be withdrawn. It has made us stronger.

“Not only did we cover investments but Ellis Short gave us money to reduce our external bank debts as well. It’s a very powerful picture going forward.”

But Quinn insists the American’s interest is more than just financial.

“He is Sunderland through and through, his family are. His son goes to school every day in a Sunderland shirt, which isn’t an easy thing to do in London. But that’s the difference in our owner,” he said.

“He doesn’t want publicity, he is not doing it to be patted on the back by fans. He is doing it because he is in there now, he is one of us.

“He is hoping there is a very big future here.”

Keown: Players should move with times

Martin Keown believes players should learn to handle the media as it will boost their chances of getting into the England squad.

The former Arsenal defender, now a BBC pundit, says today’s footballers should “move with the times” and “get out there more” to enhance their international prospects.

The England international also criticised Sky Sports News for “manufacturing” stories to fill their 24-hour rolling news coverage.

Speaking at a World Cup event at the BBC in Manchester, he said: “If you work with the media then they will look after you.

“I don’t know why, but John Terry has signed up to do a piece for the Sun for the World Cup. Now the Sun are always the first to jump to his defence.

“Wayne Rooney is being talked about as captain material because he has learned to handle the media.

“Players should definitely get out there more and move with the times because there are instances where favouritism within the media has helped some players get into the England team.”

Although he feels the media can be manipulated, Keown warns they are a “powerful animal” capable of creating public animosity towards players.

“If a player doesn’t want to do interviews they become hard work for the media,” he said.

“If they feel they don’t need you, they will twist stories and that’s quite difficult to control.

“Sometimes journalists have to be creative and find the angle other people aren’t thinking of, but Sky Sports News have to manufacture stories and some of them are not true. This kind of media is a problem.”

While Keown advocates players using the media to their advantage, he thinks managers should be concentrating more on coaching their teams.

“It’s different for managers. If a manager says too much he is fined and hauled up in front of the FA.

“Steve Bruce said too much to the media, was fined £2,500 and dragged down to London in front of a committee.

“He should have been in Sunderland with his team who had not won in 14 games and then lost a day’s training. He shouldn’t have been in London.

“We saw Rafa Benitez criticise Sam Allardyce recently but he needs to forget the side issues. I believe that’s what lost them the league last season.

“Managers try to be interesting, but it’s a balancing act.”

Bruce: I’m still the right man

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce is convinced his side will not be involved in a relegation fight despite extending their winless run to 14 games.

Following Sunday’s 0-0 draw with Fulham at the Stadium of Light, Bruce’s Black Cats have now taken only seven points from 42 available – a run of form that has left them three points clear of the bottom three.

At the final whistle, the 40,192 crows left Bruce and his players in no doubt of their opinion after another abject performance.

Bruce said: “We have got to handle it. The one thing here – which I know after living here – Fulham haven’t got and Wigan and Birmingham and Bolton, there isn’t the huge expectation that you have here. That goes with the territory of playing here and being able to handle it here.

“Let’s be fair, over the years, we haven’t been quite up to it. That’s the challenge and I am convinced we will get there. The concern at the moment is one thing: we have to get out of the run we are in.

“Who knows, the point we got, if we win next week – we keep saying it, if we win next week – it might be the point that takes us a couple of places up the table, who knows?

Pressure

Bruce took responsibility for his side’s awful display, but admitted there were “no excuses” for his players for “not handling the ball well enough” and resorting to “lumping the ball up the pitch”.

He added: “We need something to take the pressure off and we need to handle the huge expectation of a 40,000 crowd.

“We were nervous and edgy. We’re working hard enough but too many people are not playing well.

“If I ever resort to playing [longballs] it’s time for me to call it a day because I want my team to get the ball down and play, and we found that difficult.

“Listen, the buck stops with me. I’ve bought five or six of today’s team and it’s a difficult time but I’m confident I’m still the right man – and that we’ll be okay.”

Sunderland now have three back-to-back home games coming up and Bruce believes the fans can help their team bounce back.

He said: “They are absolutely fantastic and it cannot have been good for them at times as the team are short of confidence.

“I think the supporters recognise the nervousness and edginess of the team and I think they can play their part and help the team.

“If we are honest we have to be playing better than that and play better than we have done today and match the expectations of this football club.

“We have just got to keep together and turn it round.”

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