Bent fitness boost for Black Cats
Nov 27 2009 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal
“He did his work with the physios and it was pretty vigorous. It wasn’t half-paced or anything like that and he was flying.
“If he does not have any reaction, has an outstanding chance been involved on Saturday. It’s great news because we thought he would be out for three weeks, To see him bounding around the training ground was fantastic for us because he has done very well. But we are not a one-man team, we had three or four players missing last week and still got a great result against Arsenal.”
Sunderland are yet to win on their Premier League travels since the opening day of the season but Corbridge-born Bruce argued his side’s form beyond Wearside is not as bad as the bare statistics suggest.
“We have only played badly in a couple of games,” he stressed.
The news on Lee Cattermole is also promising. The combative Teessider will not be fit to face his former club, but is due to return for the busy Christmas period after a serious knee injury.
“Lee is bang on schedule,” Bruce revealed. “He’s six weeks in and he’s bounding around the training ground too, so I would think he’s bang on for three weeks.”
As soon as he has caught up with old acquaintances after the match at the DW Stadium, Bruce will jet to Europe to scout, then he hopes meet, one of his January transfer targets. The Sunderland boss was understandably coy about his precise destination, but some have suggested it will be Estadio del Mediterráneo, where Athletic Bilbao take on Almeria. Bilbao’s midfield is expected to feature 29-year-old midfielder Fran Yeste, who has said he would like to move abroad if he does not extend the contract due to expire this summer.
