STEVE BRUCE has handed Steed Malbranque an immediate chance to prove he is the man to play on the right flank for Sunderland tonight. Malbranque, who was named as a substitute against Wigan on Saturday, replaces the injured Jordan Henderson in the Black Cats' team to face Portsmouth. Otherwise Bruce has gone for the same team against a Pompey team threatened with a winding up order in the High Court tomorrow. PORTSMOUTH (4-4-2): James; Finnan, Ben-Haim, Rocha, Wilson; Yebda, Basinas, Diop, O'Hara; Piquionne, Dindane. Subs: Ashdown (gk), Mullins, Owusu-Abeiye, Webber, Hughes, Kanu, Belhadj. SUNDERLAND (4-4-2): Gordon; Hutton, Turner, Kilgallon, McCartney; Malbranque, Cattermole, Cana, Reid; Jones, Bent. Subs: Carson, Bardsley, Zenden, Da Silva, Meyler, Benjani, Liddle.
Source: Northern_Echo