Bruce aiming to play St James' spoiler once again

29 October 2010 13:30
Sunderland boss Steve Bruce will approach his first Tyne-Wear derby buoyed by the memories of major successes at St James' Park as both a player and manager. The Geordie-born Bruce will make the short trip to Tyneside determined to add to his reputation of being something of an irritant to the club he grew up supporting. Bruce was a member of the Manchester United side which won 1-0 at St James' in March 1996 as the Magpies' seemingly inexorable march to the Premier League title unravelled, famously, along with then-manager Kevin Keegan. He repeated the dose during his time in charge at Birmingham when the Midlanders headed north in January 2007 for an FA Cup third-round replay and romped to a 5-1 victory. Bruce said: "The biggest one I can remember is 96 when they were trying to win the league and the wheels came off a little bit. We had to go up there with Manchester United and we beat them 1-0. "Eric Cantona scored. We were a bit fortunate on the night, I have to tell you, but it was a great atmosphere, a great noise and after that win, we knew we would catch them. They were stuttering. I remember going there with Birmingham and beating them five in the FA Cup as well - that wasn't too bad either."

Source: PA