Source: Northern_Echo
Worried Bruce hoping his new recruits find their feet quickly
THERE will be a new look to Sunderland when they face Birmingham City today, with at least four new faces figuring in the Premier League opener.[LNB] And Steve Bruce, the Black Cats boss, admits he would have preferred to have taken his time in handing debuts to his new boys, particularly goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.[LNB] Mignolet cost Sunderland £2m, but it was never the intention for him to start the campaign as the club's firstchoice goalkeeper in the absence of Craig Gordon.[LNB] But with Gordon missing the first six matches of the season with a fractured arm, Mignolet is ready for a quick baptism in the English league.[LNB] Bruce would have preferred to have brought in a more experienced goalkeeper on a short-term loan.[LNB] The manager, however, is satisfied the 22-year-old can cope, having impressed during pre-season after an indifferent start on the pre-season trip to Portugal.[LNB] It's not ideal, being without Craig, whose injury was the biggest disappointment of the summer, said Bruce.[LNB] It causes a concern but Simon played for Belgium Under-21s this week, they beat France 1-0, and he was terrific again.[LNB] He is a boy and it is not ideal to throw him in now. But Simon will be relishing the challenge, I'm sure. He has no fear, he is confident and he has done fantastically well.[LNB] The summer signing from Sint-Truidense will not be the only recruit to be making his Stadium of Light bow this afternoon, with Titus Bramble, Nedum Onuoha and Danny Welbeck all likely to be in the starting line-up.[LNB] Ahmed Al-Muhammadi could also be involved at some stage, but Cristian Riveros and Marcos Angeleri are unlikely to be involved, while last season's leading scorer, Darren Bent, will be assessed after withdrawing from international duty with a back problem.[LNB] Bruce remains excited about what lies ahead.[LNB] There's always a feel-good factor at the start of the season,[LNB] he said.[LNB] It's been a difficult pre-season with the World Cup, transfers, injuries, but the season is here and we look forward to it.[LNB] There's nothing quite like the first game of the season.[LNB] We look forward to the challenge.[LNB] We could have three or four making their debut, which is not ideal, but something like 26 players have left in the last 12 months.[LNB] I didn't envisage that six or seven would be out and six or seven would be in this summer and I don't think we are finished yet either.[LNB]
