Steve Bruce has no fear of Kenwyne Jones

Nov 6 2010 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

STEVE Bruce says he has no fears about Kenwyne Jones returning to pile more misery on him – as he prepares to finally unleash the Stoke striker’s £13m replacement Asamoah Gyan.

Sunderland begin their mission to salvage pride after their Tyne-Wear derby humiliation with the visit of Stoke this afternoon, who are spearheaded by former Black Cat Jones.

The Trinidad and Tobago international was effectively forced out over the summer after Bruce became frustrated by his inconsistency, but has proved his goalscoring pedigree with three goals in nine games since moving to the Britannia Stadium. Another at the Stadium of Light would make life awkward for the Sunderland boss, who knows he has plenty of work to do to repair his reputation on Wearside. But he insists he is just another opposition striker.

“Kenwyne has nothing to prove and we have nothing to prove to Kenwyne,” the Black Cats boss said. “There was never any falling out as people said and selling him enabled me to bring in Gyan and do something different.

“But make no mistake, he’s a very good player and we’ll have to play very well to keep him quiet. No matter what anyone says, I’ve got a huge amount of respect for Kenwyne.

“On his day he’s a very, very good footballer but you make decisions as a manager and I think he’d run his course for us here. I think a staleness had crept in. I wish him well – but not on Saturday.”