Source: Northern_Echo
Bruce to unleash record signing
STEVE Bruce is ready to unleash record signing Asamoah Gyan when Stoke City visit the Stadium of Light today.[LNB] The £13m man will make his first Premier League start for the Black Cats since arriving in the summer and is likely to partner Darren Bent in a two-pronged attack.[LNB] Bruce has been reluctant to throw the striker straight in to the Premier League caldron something he has taken a lot of criticism for but he feels Gyan is now ready to make his name in the top flight.[LNB] After last weekend's 5-1 humiliation at the hands of Newcastle, Bruce knows his side must come out fighting and he hopes the introduction of Gyan will give everyone a huge boost.[LNB] The time's now right for Asamoah, Bruce said. We need to go and get at Stoke and he'll definitely start.[LNB] He is ready. I told him on Tuesday he was playing. We hope he can give us a spark.[LNB] He's come here as the record signing and he's just got into the top 23 players in the world.[LNB] He had a fantastic World Cup, he's gently eased himself in and it's up to him to come in and show what he can do by giving us a spark. I'm sure he'll be a big hit in the Premier League.[LNB] He plays two roles for Ghana. At home up top, away from home off the front, so he is capable of doing anything you ask him.[LNB] We have let him settle in and we were playing well and I didn't want to tinker with it.[LNB] After last weekend's horror show at St James' Park, Bruce is likely to make changes for the visit of Tony Pulis' side, with the likes of Bolo Zenden, Kieran Richardson and John Mensah vying for places.[LNB] Some players have not trained because of flu.[LNB] The boss also revealed forgotten man Marcos Angeleri who has yet to play since his summer move is close to making a return from injury.[LNB] Bruce has said the Black Cats must not let the loss to Chris Hughton's side harm a good start to the season but admits he should maybe have gone for a more experienced side in the derby.[LNB] We've lost three games in 18 months in the Premier League at home, against Chelsea, Manchester United and Aston Villa, but we can't let what happened last week ruin things, said the former Wigan and Birmingham boss.[LNB] We've got 19, 20, 21-yearolds who've performed fantastically for weeks but we didn't handle the situation and that was the sad thing.[LNB] Maybe I should have gone for a bit more experience but the way they'd played against Man United, Man City and Arsenal why would I[LNB] These lads have got something about them, I've signed most of them. We've got a bit of flu going round and we don't want to let that get worse.[LNB] Kenwyne Jones returns to the Stadium of Light for the first time since his summer move, along with a host of ex- Sunderland players and Bruce is well aware they will be coming with a point to prove.[LNB] No matter what anyone says I've got a huge amount of respect for Jones,'' he said.[LNB] On his day he's a very good footballer but you make decisions in management he'd run his course.[LNB] He's a very good player and we'll have to play well to stop him. There are two or three of them who've performed very well for this club, we welcome them back and we hope things go well for them after the weekend.[LNB] We've disappointed a lot of people and we know that. The big thing is how we respond.[LNB]
