Source: Daily_Mail
Steve Bruce to give Sunderland new boys Mensah and Da Silva Cup starts
Sunderland manager Steve Bruce is ready to throw new signings John Mensah and Paulo de Silva into the Carling Cup game against his former club Birmingham City.
The two summer signings have yet to start a League game, although Da Silva did make his debut at Norwich in the same competition.
But following Saturday's miserable defeat at Burnley, Bruce is ready to wield the axe and bring in to experienced defenders who are ready to challenge the likes of Anton Ferdinand and Phil Bardsley for a regular slot at the Stadium of Light.
Paraguay captain Da Silva joined on a free transfer from Mexican club Toluca while Ghana international Mensah is on loan from Lyon, which is likely to become a permanent £5million deal after this season.
Bruce said: 'They’ve been chomping at the bit to be involved and they’ll get that chance at the Stadium of Light (on Tuesday). In a way, their season starts here, this is their chance to start making an impression.
'It will be strong team because I want us to go our there and win. The players let themselves down at the weekend and I’ll be pointing out to them in more detail today (Monday) where they went wrong, but I’ll be looking for an improvement tomorrow night.'
Midfielder Lee Cattermole, who missed the 2-1 defeat at Turf Moor with a heel injury, will not be risked and Kenwyne Jones, who has started the last two games on the bench, is likely to start.
