Source: Telegraph
Sunderland v Manchester City: Steve Bruce aims to spring a Wearside surprise
The former Manchester United skipper is planning to bring City down to earth following their 3-0 win over Liverpool when he pits his wits against Roberto Mancini at the Stadium of Light. [LNB]Sunderland came within seconds of beating City in the North-East last season only to be denied by Adam Johnson's sublime equaliser and Bruce believes their visit could kick-start his club's season following a disappointing start to the campaign. [LNB]Sunderland were held 2-2 by Birmingham on the opening day of the season before losing 1-0 at newly-promoted West Bromwich Albion and were still lacking fluency when they beat Colchester 2-0 in the Carling Cup on Tuesday night. [LNB]Now Bruce is baking on City to stir his players and the supporters. [LNB] "Games don't come much tougher than this one in the Premier League," Bruce said. "I watched them at Liverpool and they were impressive. [LNB] "We'll have a big crowd behind us it'll be a different atmosphere to Tuesday night, for sure and we're looking forward to the challenge. [LNB] "Everyone wants to play against a big team and at the moment they don't come much bigger than City with their spending power and the players they've brought in. They're doing extremely well and we know it will be a tough test." [LNB]Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn, who played 255 games for City during his playing days, will put sentiment to one side this week. [LNB] "City was outstanding the other night but we have a job to do on them," [LNB]Quinn said. "The care and thoughts of Man City go out the window for the rest of the week as far as I'm concerned. [LNB] "We've got to look at ways of stopping them and pressing our game on them. Steve has been concentrating on that all week. [LNB] "We'll be up for it there will be a great crowd and a great atmosphere. We want the crowd to stay with us and hopefully things will start to go our way." [LNB]City have changed radically from Quinn's time at the club and the Irishman believes their fans have plenty to be optimistic about thanks to the tens of millions of pounds invested in the club since a Middle Eastern takeover two years ago. [LNB] "The transformation has been great," Quinn said. "I know what football means to the blue half of Manchester. They've always wanted to challenge United. [LNB] "When I got there United hadn't taken off the way they did and for a long time it was very hard for City fans. [LNB] "Now there's a lot of hope in the air. There's a lot of money in the air too, but there's belief." [LNB]
