Martyn Waghorn sustains knee injury in pre-season friendly

Jul 14 2010 by James Hunter, The Journal

STEVE Bruce is keeping his fingers crossed goal hero Martyn Waghorn’s knee injury does not prove serious.

The 20-year-old striker scored both goals as Sunderland came from behind to beat a Munster XI 2-1 at Thomond Park in the Black Cats’ first pre-season friendly of the summer.

However, Waghorn - who came on at half-time as boss Bruce changed all 11 players at the break - was substituted in the final few seconds of the match after suffering a knock.

Bruce said: “Waghorn is a concern because of the way he went over and the way he went down.

“He just seemed to catch something in the turf and he landed on his knee, but we think we might be lucky and he has not done anything serious.

“His injury is the biggest dampener of the whole night for us, but hopefully he will be OK. It is a shame because he scored two cracking goals.

“Last pre-season Jordan Henderson and David Meyler staked their claim for a place in the side and were given a chance, and Martyn has made a great start this time round.

“It bodes well when I see the young talent we have at the club coming through.”

Sunderland’s first-half eleven looked rusty to say the least and Munster deservedly lead at the interval through John Tierney’s early strike.

However, the Black Cats’ second-half display was a vast improvement and Waghorn struck in the 75th and 78th minutes to turn the scoreline on its head.

Bruce said: “As the cliche goes,

it was a game of two halves! But all we are looking for at this stage really is fitness.

“It was a reasonable workout against a decent Munster team who gave it everything they had.

“We had a struggle on our hands in the first half but in the second we were a bit better, passed the ball quicker, controlled the game and I felt it was only a matter of time before we scored.

“We looked a bit leggy at times but this was our first pre-season game, we still have five more to go in preparation for the first game of the Premier League season against Birmingham and that will be totally different again.”

Bruce has also been given a boost by the news chief scout Ricky Sbragia has rejected the chance to leave Wearside and join Birmingham City as assistant manager to boss Alex McLeish.

McLeish is searching for a replacement for his right-hand man Roy Aitken, who has joined United Arab Emirates side Al Ahli as assistant to former Leeds boss David O’Leary.

Sbragia started his playing career with Birmingham and Sunderland allowed him to talk to the Blues.

However, he has decided to stay at Sunderland, where he had a brief stint as manager the season before last when he steered them to Premier League safety.

Bruce said: “We gave Ricky permission to talk to Birmingham and he did that, but he enjoys being at this club immensely.

“He has decided he wants to stay here as our chief scout, and I am delighted about that because he has done a lot of excellent work for us.”

Meanwhile, Bruce has rubbished rumours linking influential midfielder Lee Cattermole with a switch to Liverpool.

He insisted: “I don’t know anything about that and I have absolutely no intention of letting Lee leave this club - none whatsoever.”