Sunderland count cost of win

Oct 19 2009 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

“God, he was immense,” Bruce said. “His second-half performance was arguably, individually, as good as I’ve seen in a top, top game and I’ve seen some good ones. Single-handedly he was terrific.

“Lorik had played centre-back for Albania against Sweden on Wednesday – not very well, mind, because they got beaten 4-1, but he made up for it!

“Both he and Catts epitomise everything I like in a footballer. They give everything they’ve got. When you’ve got players like that you can go to bed early on a Friday night and not worry.”

Bruce is still surprised how easy it was bringing Cana to Wearside this summer.

“I saw Lorik play against Liverpool twice for Marseille,” he recalled. “He was a cult hero down there. I couldn’t believe they were making him available and it was possibly the easiest transfer we made.

“We agreed the fee in 24 hours, he came and flew in via Amsterdam and signed that night.

“He didn’t want time to think about it or go around the stadium or hear about what we were trying to do. He just wanted to come and play in England.”

Well though substitutes Zenden and Jordan Henderson performed in their stead, the worry for Sunderland is the number of games the combative Cana and Cattermole will miss this season.

Cana’s yellow card on Saturday was his fourth of the campaign – one away from a suspension.

“You can’t take away his exuberance,” argued Bruce. “When you tackle as many times as he does, you’re going to get caught, but he doesn’t mean to do anything malicious.

“We knew about that when we were signing it and I’d rather have it than not. We’ll have to make sure we deal with it when the suspension comes.”

Meanwhile, striker Roy O’Donovan has been sent back to Sunderland by Southend United at the end of an uninspiring loan.

The Republic of Ireland B international, who no longer has a squad number at the Stadium of Light, marked his Shrimpers’ debut with a tap-in at Brighton and Hove Albion, but has been unable to find the net since.

He made four starts and a subsitute appearance for the League One club.