Source: PA
Bruce hopes to continue bright start
Sunderland boss Steve Bruce will lock horns with former club Manchester United at the weekend desperate to continue a positive start to the season.
Saturday's 2-2 draw at Liverpool, which came a week after Arsenal left the Stadium of Light with just a point to show for their efforts, saw the Black Cats safely negotiate the second of three intensely difficult games.
The midweek Carling Cup exit at the hands of West Ham and a sub-standard display in defeat at West Brom last month apart, Bruce has been hugely encouraged by the way his side has coped with a tough set of fixtures during the opening weeks of the campaign.
He said: "It couldn't have been an any harder start. When I looked and saw we had Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United - it doesn't come any harder, does it, at the start of the season?
"However, if we can come out and nick a few more points, then it will have been a decent start. I think we have played very well this year up to now - there is only really West Brom where we have let ourselves down.
"We played particularly well at home to Birmingham and at Wigan with 10 men, so the signs are looking okay."
