Bruce: We need goals

14 April 2011 12:00
Sunderland boss Steve Bruce is desperate for his side to rediscover their cutting edge as the season draws to a tense climax. The Black Cats had gone seven-and-a-half hours without a goal when West Brom defender Nicky Shorey headed into his own net last weekend, and even Phil Bardsley's piledriver could not prevent them from slipping to a 3-2 home defeat. Since striker Darren Bent's £24million departure for Aston Villa in January, Bruce's men have scored only nine goals in as many games with midfielder Kieran Richardson and full-back Bardsley claiming six of them. Record signing Asamoah Gyan, who has largely played up front on his own, registered against both Stoke and Tottenham to take his tally for the season to 10, but both strikes came in defeats. Bruce paired the £13million-plus man with the fit-again Danny Welbeck against the Baggies, and is keeping his fingers crossed that his frontmen find the kind of potency they enjoyed earlier in the campaign to ease the club away from the danger zone. He said: "I honestly think as a team, we have lost that cutting edge that we had. That's where you win a football match - you have to score a goal, and with the loss of Fraizer [Campbell], Bent and Welbeck, we have found it difficult. That's where we did have a cutting edge over most and unfortunately, it's not quite happened over the last three months."

Source: PA