Bruce: Sunderland can still finish in the top 10

Jan 24 2010 by James Hunter, Sunday Sun

As well as being without the Gordon/Turner/Cattermole/Cana spine that runs from back to front through the side, injuries have also prevented the Black Cats boss establishing a settled back four.

In 21 league games so far, Bruce has named a dozen different back fours in his starting line-ups.

And after picking the same back four in Sunderland’s first three games of the season back in August, only once since then has Bruce been able to name the same defensive quartet for back-to-back league games.

That has been a major factor in Sunderland conceding 38 league goals so far – the sixth-worst defensive record in the top flight.

Bruce said: “I’ve used a dozen different back fours and I’ve only named one unchanged defence since August, so that shows you the kind of problems we’ve had.

“The stats are there for everyone to see and that shows you where the problem lies. When I get a settled back four, I want to stick with it.

“I’ve had to change it round far too often.”

Defence by numbers (Premier League)

Number of different starting back four 12

Number of times named unchanged back four 3

Number of players used in defence 11

Number of goals conceded 38

Number of clean sheets 3

(joint fewest in the top flight)