Goalkeeper Simon Mignolet says he rates his stop from Emanuel Adebayor against Manchester City as the greatest save so far in his career. "It is a dream come true for me at 22 years of age to come in and win a game like this," he said. It was a great day for me. I had some saves to make and one difficult one as well. I saw the ball at the last minute so I didn't have much time to think about it. The ball came towards me and all I could do in the time was try to get something on it. Sometimes you do something you're not aware of and I think that save was one of those times. It was one of the most important saves I have ever made. If that ball had gone in we would not have won that game. To see your team creating chances after that and going on to win is the most amazing feeling you can imagine as a goalkeeper. Everyone battled well. We were very organised, worked hard for each other and won the battles. We played a very decent game. In my opinion we deserved to win."
Meanwhile, Asamoah Gyan will be perfecting his singing voice during his time on Wearside. The Ghanaian striker, who released a song, African Girls, with hiplife artist Castro in his homeland said: "I have the talent. In leisure time, I like to sing. On my holidays, I like to sing. My friend is a professional musician in Ghana and is very famous there. We used to sing together and I have instruments at home. Music is my life, my hobby. Some guys like to go to the golf course or do whatever outside of football, I like to play music. Because of this Castro decided to feature me in one of his tracks. Singing is very important to [the Ghanaian national team]. With Ghana I am the leader of the songs. When we are in training camp we try to psyche the players up by singing. They think I have a good voice to boost the confidence of the team. John Mensah can tell you more about that! Our mentality is very united. We like to sing all the time in camp. When we are there we forget about the game and don't put pressure on ourselves. We crack jokes and sing all the time - this is our way of psyching ourselves up."
Titus Bramble says he has been amazed by the support he has received from Sunderland fans, despite his Newcastle connections. "The fans have been great ever since I got here and I want to repay them for that,” he said. "I always said when I came here that it was up to me to prove myself as a Sunderland player out on the pitch and things have gone pretty well for me so far. I still think I need a few games to be at my best, but I’ve settled in well and it has been everything I’d hoped for when I decided I wanted to come here. It’s an excellent club and I’m really enjoying it. You can talk as much as you want, but fans are going to warm to you if they see you are playing well on a matchday. That’s all that matters. I was happy to be named man-of-the-match against Manchester City, but the result was the most important thing. Obviously you want to play well for a new club and if I can carry on like this, I’ll be happy. I think I needed this move, it was a challenge because some people would have had a certain view of me after my time at Newcastle, but I wanted that and I’m excited about what we can achieve this season. We have some really good players here and if we can get some better luck with injuries, I don’t see why we can’t push for a European place. Of course, getting a win over a team like Manchester City helps give everyone a lift, the sort of performance and result which boosts confidence. We have a platform to build on now and hopefully we can go to Wigan after the international break and get something from that game as well. I know the away form was a problem last season for Sunderland and I’ve already been part of one poor performance on the road and I don’t want another, especially as it’s against the manager’s and my former club. We were bad against West Brom and it just wasn’t good enough really. We have shown how well we can play against Manchester City – now we have to maintain those standards."
John Mensah has welcomed his friend and international team-mate Asamoah Gyan to Sunderland and believes the 24-year-old will feel right at home on Wearside. Mensah told his official website, johntherock5.com: "I want to congratulate my brother and team-mate Asamoah Gyan for taking up such a bold decision. Such is life and I wish him well - may God grant him goals. Joining Sunderland is also like joining manager Bruce's family. Bruce and [assistant Eric] Black are like fathers to us, not to mention the loving support of Sunderland [fans]. They are at peace with everyone and I believe my brother will feel at home."
Meanwhile, tickets for next month's clash against Manchester United at the SOL are now on sale to supporters with a valid membership number.The Category A game will be played on Saturday 2nd October, KO 3pm and seats are priced from £29 adults and £12 for under-16s and over-65s. Tickets will only be sold to fans with a valid membership number and online sales are not available for this game.
Sunderland have also confirmed that as of 10am today (Thursday) there are less than 100 tickets remaining for the game at Wigan on September 11.
Steve Bruce has named 24 players in his squad for this season, including 12 "home-grown" senior players. Jordan Henderson, David Meyler and Danny Welbeck, who are very much a part of the first-team squad, do not have to be named in the squad as they are still under the qualifying age.
The squad is listed in full below (* denotes home-grown player):
ANGELERI, Marcos
BARDSLEY, Phil*
BENT, Darren*
BRAMBLE, Titus*
CAMPBELL, Fraizer*
CARSON, Trevor*
CATTERMOLE, Lee*
DA SILVA, Paulo
ELMOHAMADY, Ahmed
FERDINAND, Anton*
GORDON, Craig
GYAN, Asamoah
HEALY, David*
MALBRANQUE, Steed
McCARTNEY, George*
MENSAH, John
MIGNOLET, Simon
ONUOHA, Nedum*
REID, Andy
RICHARDSON, Kieran*
RIVEROS, Cristian
TURNER, Michael*
WEIR, Robbie*
ZENDEN, Boudewijn
The following players are under 21 and as such do not have to be named in the 25-man squad:
ADAMS, Blair
BAGNALL, Liam
COLBACK, Jack
COOK, Jordan
EGAN, John
FLETCHER, Matthew
HENDERSON, Jordan
KAY, Michael
LAING, Louis
LIDDLE, Michael
LUSCOMBE, Nathan
LYNCH, Craig
MADDEN, Dan
MEYLER, David
NOBLE, Ryan
NOBLE, Liam
REED, Adam
WATSON, Jordan
WELBECK, Danny
WILSON, Nathan
WILSON, Ben
Sunderland captain Lee Cattermole has praised manager Steve Bruce's preparation and tactics for the victory over Manchester City Sunday. "We set our stall out early doors, worked hard and tracked all the runners," he said. "We looked at how they played against Liverpool and the gaffer set us up a slightly different way to match them up in midfield. We worked extremely hard and got stronger as the game went on. I think the best team won in the end. We tried to get Steed onto De Jong because we wanted to stop him dictating the play. Lots of little things from training went well, such as Benty showing into midfield from the right angle. We needed seven or eight players to play brilliantly and we got that. Danny [Welbeck] was brilliant when he came on; he was full of energy and gave Micah Richards a tough time. Bardo came on and did well at right back, while Anton came into the side and did brilliantly. Everyone is trying to stake a claim in the team and we're all pulling together in the right direction. No-one's sulking about not being in the team - they're coming in and doing their bit which is brilliant."
Sunderland have confirmed that the Carling Cup Third Round tie against West Ham United at the SOL will be played on Tuesday 21 September (KO 7.45pm). Advance-purchase tickets will be available at the discounted priced of £10 for adults and £5 for under 16s and over 65s. Tickets purchased on the day of the game will revert to £15 for adults and £10 for under 16s and over 65s. Season card holders have until 5pm, September 13 2010 to purchase their seat. Season cards will be automatically activated when a season ticket seat is purchased at the usual price band, a separate ticket is not issued. Supporters enrolled on the Cup Payment Scheme will have their season card automatically updated for this game and need not apply separately. Seats not reserved for season card holders go on sale from 10am, September 2 2010 and any unsold season card seats will be released for sale at 10am, September 14 2010.
Asamoah Gyan says he is looking forward to forming a prolific partnership with Darren Bent. "I am looking forward to playing with Darren," he said. "He is a very good player with Sunderland and the national team; he is doing so well. Darren did a great job last season. I was following him; people rated Sunderland as an underdog but he was scoring all the time. Darren is fantastic. I'm now here and I wish to play with him but the coach will decide who plays. I'm a player of Sunderland now and I have to give my best, then the coach will decide."
It has been confirmed Gyan will wear number 33 for Sunderland this season. Gyan has traditionally worn the number 3 - his lucky number - throughout his career, but that shirt has already been taken by Kieran Richardson.
Darren Bent has said he is "relishing" the chance of playing for England again after being called up to the squad to face Bulgaria. "Everyone wants to play for their country," he said. "If the door's back open again I'll relish it and if I can get a piece of the game I'll be delighted."
The striker also spoke of his disappointment of seeing his best friend and strike partner Fraizer Campbell ruled out of action for three months with cruciate knee ligament damage. "It's unfortunate for Fraizer because he's had a fantastic pre-season where he's on fire, he's come into the season and done really well and then he's got a serious injury which is disappointing," he added. "Hopefully Fraizer can get himself right and back as soon as possible."
Record signing Asamoah Gyan is determined to live up to his price tag and handle the expectations at Sunderland. "The technical guys I have worked with always tell me my style of play suits the English Premier League," he said. "I have been watching the Premier League and I think I will be all right. This is my first season in England and I hope everything goes well – it is a challenge for me. I am a big signing for Sunderland this season and more expectation will be there because of that. I have to work extremely hard. It is an important contract for me and the fans of Sunderland. I have to give my best to prove to everyone what I am capable of. When I first heard Sunderland were chasing me, I started to follow them. I know Sunderland well and I know the fans are incredible – they keep cheering you for 90 minutes and that is very important, it gives the players confidence to play to their maximum."
Steve Bruce has spoken of how important it was to add to his striking options after Kenwyne Jones joined Stoke earlier this summer and Fraizer Campbell was ruled out of action for six months. “I have spent a few bob now and the owner has dug deep to make it happen," he said. "We always wanted to replace Kenwyne Jones. Allowing him to join Stoke was the big decision this summer, but everyone can see now what I was trying to do and thankfully we got our man over the line. It became imperative after what happened with Fraizer now he’s out for six months."
Meanwhile, former striker Martyn Waghorn says he has had a mental couple of days as he completed his move to Leicester. He said: "I was out shopping on Monday when I got the call to say Leicester were interested and within a couple of hours I was on my way down. It has all been a bit of a blur. I have come to play football and help the club get where it belongs."
Elsewhere, Simon Mignolet has been rewarded for his fine performances by being added to the Belgium squad to face Turkey next week. The keeper could also appear for the under-21's when they play Slovenia on Friday. Mignolet joins Darren Bent (England), Asamoah Gyan (Ghana), Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck (England under-21's), Ahmed Elmohamady (Egypt), David Healy (Northern Ireland) and Paulo da Silva (Paraguay), who have all been selected for international duty.
Sunderland's new signing Asamoah Gyan says he can't wait to link up with Ghanaian team-mate John Mensah. He said: "Quite unfortunately, when I joined Rennes he left only ten days later to sign for Lyon. I have already met him here and I have played with him in the national team for over seven years. He is like a big brother to me and is always advising me. He is a great guy off the field as well as on it. He is a joker - he knows me well and I am a joker too, a big one. We joke together a lot when we are in the national team. The atmosphere here is very important to me."
Meanwhile, Sunderland reserve coach Keith Bertschin was disappointed with Tuesday’s 3-1 defeat to Newcastle at the SOL. Nile Ranger and Peter Lovenkrands gave the Magpies an early two-goal lead before Ryan Taylor added a third in the second half. Jordan Cook pulled a goal back from the penalty spot late on but it wasn't enough for Sunderland second string. "It doesn't matter how much possession you have, if you don't defend your goal properly you can get undone," he said. "Their boy Ranger up front was strong, we didn't deal with it quickly enough and all of a sudden after a couple of lapses and before you know where you are you're two-nil down. That's tough to come back from. That was disappointing because we had a lot of the play, but obviously if we keep allowing goals in it's hard for us to win football matches. The players are all playing for different reasons. One or two are playing for fitness, one or two haven't played at all and the young ones are getting used to playing against men. There were some good young performances but unfortunately their centre forward dominated our centre half. I thought George McCartney did well and showed a terrific attitude at the back. But we must start from the back. Clean sheets give you a chance as opposed to balls being pumped through the middle of us and us not dealing with them. This was a big game. The players are bitterly disappointed, as we all are, but now we must move on and learn from this."
Sunderland have smashed their transfer record to sign Asamoah Gyan for over £13m on a four-year-deal. The powerful forward was one of the stars of this summer's World Cup, scoring three goals as Ghana reached the quarter finals, where he missed a last minute penalty against Uruguay. Steve Bruce was keen to bolster his frontline following a ligament injury to Fraizer Campbell in Sunderland's 1-0 win over Manchester City on Sunday, while Kenwyne Jones left the Stadium of Light for £8m earlier this summer. Gyan, 24, joined Rennes from Udinese in 2008 and scored 13 times in 27 Ligue 1 appearances last season.
Asamoah Gyan says he is looking forward to playing in front of Sunderland's "incredible fans" after completing his record breaking move to the SOL. "It's been a long day, but finally I'm happy to be here and my family and friends are also happy for me," he said. "My family is in England already and I am happy this is the right place for me. The Sunderland coach has faith in me because he has been following me for two years now. I am pleased I have the opportunity to come to England. I follow English football and I know Sunderland have incredible fans. I especially know about the derby when they play against Newcastle. That is something incredible. I have witnessed that myself. The Sunderland fans never say die. They keep cheering their team on for 90 minutes. That gives me confidence to play maximum football. I am here to do my best and show what I can do. I have watched Sunderland play before - I think it will be good."
A delighted Steve Bruce had this to say about the deal: "It's been a tense 24 hours but first and foremost I must say well done to the owner for backing us to the hilt again. The injury to Fraizer heightened our thoughts and it's unfortunate what's happened. But I couldn't be more delighted to get the boy in. In today's world we have to appreciate exactly what the owner has done for the club. We know how difficult it would be without him. On a day like today we needed a hand and thankfully the owner has given us that. Asamoah's something different; I think the crowd will enjoy watching him. He wears his heart on his sleeve, playing with great energy and enthusiasm. He had a great World Cup but we already knew what he's all about as we've been tracking him for a long time. This is a great deal for us. Asamoah's got character and that makes him the player he is. I've been watching him for a few years now. He first caught my eye when Ghana played in London and we have monitored him since then. As anyone who has watched Ghana recently or who watched the World Cup will tell you, Asamoah is a real livewire," Bruce added, "He had a fantastic tournament in the summer and a lot of European clubs sat up and took notice. I have been very keen to bring in another striker to add to the quality we have, but only when we felt the deal was right. We feel this is a great deal for the football club and Asamoah really wants to be here and in the Barclays Premier League, so I'm delighted he has joined us."
Meanwhile, Sunderland have agreed to let Martyn Waghorn join Leicester in a deal worth £3million to offset the record transfer fee for Asamoah Gyan. The 20-year-old scored 12 goals for the Foxes during a season-long loan at the Walkers Stadium last term and was a popular figure with fans.
Still with the deadline and Teemu Tainio has joined his former boss Martin Jol at Ajax after having his contract terminated at Sunderland and will now play against AC Milan and Real Madrid in the Champions League. Jol had this to say: "I am very happy we could strength our squad on the final day of the international transfer market. Teemu is someone who can do his job in the midfield. He is a winner, a player with a good mentality. I have worked with him at Tottenham Hotspur and continued to follow him. I am happy the board at Sunderland was willing to co-operate despite a running deal with Teemu. Therefore it was possible for us to sign Teemu." Steve Bruce said: "We wish Teemu all the best."
Meanwhile, Steve Bruce has confirmed Fraizer Campbell will be out for at least six months after rupturing his cruciate knee ligament against Man City on Sunday. Bruce said: "It's a tragedy. We've had two cruciate knee ligament injuries in five Premier League games with Meyler getting injured at the back end of the season. We could certainly do with a bit more luck in that department. We're devastated for Fraizer and hopefully he can make a speedy recovery. Everybody at the club wishes him well. He's had a wonderful start to the season and that's what usually happens. Meyler had had a wonderful start too. That's football, but it's deeply frustrating."
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count down to dealine with ALS... SAFC TRANSFER NEWS
5.23pm: Reports are suggesting Asamoah Gyan has finally completed his record breaking £12m move to Sunderland on a four-year-contract. It's about time! DJ Campbell is also set to join Blackpool from Leicester, clearing the way for Martyn Waghorn's switch to the Walkers Stadium.
5pm: SSN reporting Gyan deal has been done but we are chasing official confirmation from SAFC
3.16pm: ALS staff getting bored of no transfer news!
9.54am: Sunderland are considering a £2m offer from Leicester for striker Martyn Waghorn. However, Steve Bruce may be reluctant to allow the 20-year-old to leave as he waits for news on Fraizer Campbell's knee injury
9.46am: According to reports, Wigan are considering moves for Sunderland pair Andy Reid and David Healy.
Tuesday 8am: Asamoah Gyan arrives at the Academy of Light ahead of proposed move to Sunderland.
Sunday 9pm: Asamoah Gyan was spotted arriving at Newcastle Airport on Sunday afternoon, however he was also seen leaving a few hours later by the ALS spy who work in customs (cherers lads). Hopefully, he just nipped home to get some more boxer shorts and will sign before the deadline.
bent happy... fans were mint sez bent/jordan the comeback
Darren Bent has spoken of his delight at scoring the late winner against Manchester City and has also praised Titus Bramble and the fans for getting behind the team. "I was still getting my legs back after the game because they felt a bit wobbly," he said. "The whole team was fantastic, especially in the second half. The first half was all about containing City because they are a top side, but we got into them in the second half and got our reward. There was pressure but I just concentrated on hitting the penalty as hard as I could. It wasn't my greatest penalty but it ended up where I wanted it. It was a fantastic feeling. The result was great for the whole club because we've had some difficult ones of late, drawing against Birmingham late on and then losing at West Brom. But we bounced back well against one of the biggest teams in the league. It felt like the stadium was going to take off. It was fantastic for [the fans]. They are always there for us, home and away, and turn out in their thousands every week. The back four defended fantastically. A lot of people have talked about Titus' transfer but he was the man of the match for me. He showed the quality he's got and that's why we brought him in."
Jordan Henderson says the experience of playing for England under-21's will help him develop as a footballer. The 20-year-old has veeb selected for England's upcoming Under 21 European Championship qualifiers and admits he is really looking forward to playing for the Three Lions. He said: "Going away to Portugal for a qualifier will be a great experience for me, then we've got Lithuania at home which is a big game too. Playing in a different team alongside different players helps me to learn. I'm going to go there, work hard and keep my head down. I'm looking forward to the experience but I'm also looking forward to the Wigan game when I come back. There's plenty riding on [the Portugal game]. It's a massive game for us. Portugal are a very good team. But I played alongside some good players against Uzbekistan so hopefully we can give them a good game and get a result."
Sunderland reserves have named a strong squad for tonight's derby game against Newcastle at the Stadium of Light (KO 7pm). Andy Reid and George McCartney have been named, as the chances of them leaving the SOL seem less likely, as has forgotten man Marcos Angeleri.
Sunderland (from): Carson, B Wilson, Madden, Bagnall, Angeleri, Adams, Reed, Kay, McCartney, Luscombe, Weir, Colback, R Noble, Cook, Reid, Fletcher.
Sunderland reserves coach Keith Bertschin wants his team to show what the are capable of when they face Newcastle at the Stadium of Light. "I'm looking forward to it; this is about as good a game as you get in this league, plus it's at the Stadium as well," he said. "What tends to happen is people come back from injury and need games. We've got one or two of those tonight as well as some young players. You don't get a lot of chance to fine tune a team under those circumstances but what you do expect is that whoever turns up, for whatever reason, play as well as they can do. That's especially true as we're playing against our neighbours. To a lesser degree there's a bit of bragging rights in the local area, but I just hope it's a good game. They will have a few established players in the team so it'll be good the lads to test themselves against people like Sol Campbell and the boy Nile Ranger. Whoever plays, it will be an experience and I am keen for them to show what they can do."
Asamoah Gyan and Charles N'Zogbia on radar... go for it quinny lad
Steve Bruce is begging chairman Niall Quinn to open the cheque book as he step up his pursuit of Asamoah Gyan and Charles N'Zogbia. Fraizer Campbell's knee ligament injury means bringing in another striker is now a priority, with Sunderland reportedly locked in talks with Rennes over a possible move for the 24-year-old Ghanaian. Bruce said: "It looked as if Fraizer has damaged his knee ligaments. It doesn’t look good. It is imperative we bring a body in. We are short there. He could be missing for the next couple of months. I haven’t seen Niall yet, he has been trying. We have one or two irons in the fire. It was imperative before, it’s even more so now. If we do lose him for a few months then we have to get another one in."
N'Zogbia's failure to agree personal terms with Birmingham has put Bruce on red alert, but the gaffer may be put off by Wigan's £10m asking price. "I’m a big admirer of Charles," he added. It’s a lot of money they want for him. We will see what we have got."
Meanwhile, Bruce is still over the moon with the victory and performance against City: "I’m delighted, it was a great performance from us. I just said to Eric Black, my assistant, that it was the same team we had last week that lost at West Brom. That’s our problem. But everyone of them stuck at it. We rode our luck when Carlos Tevez missed his chance in the first half and he will never miss one like that again. We have conceded eight in the last few minutes of games under me, so it was nice to change our luck!
Having given City something of a reality check, Bruce has warned Roberto Mancini that he will have to get used to that in the Premier League if they want to be in the title race. “With the quality they have got they have catapulted themselves in to a different league now,” he said. They are in there now. Our crowd played a part and they knew we were playing one of the top teams. City will have to live with that with the quality they have – Boateng, Kolarov and another four missing for £100m. Whether they are good enough we will see, but they were impressive against Liverpool. We know they will be there or thereabouts. The upcoming fixtures are not kind but it was important for us to win today. We went to Wigan last year after beating Arsenal and didn’t perform. It is in my mind already, we played 4- 5-1 against a top team and that has worked for us. It’s worth thinking about."
Bruce singled out new signing Bramble as the star. That'll shut the boo boys up. He added: "We coped at the back because we've got strength in depth now at the back. We brought in Titus Bramble, and he was absolutely terrific. He's arguably been our best player in the last three games, and that just shows you the difference new players can make. Last season if we were without Turner or John Mensah, you wondered at times if we would handle it. But against City we've coped because we've got a bit of strength in depth. In that department we're fine - it's just at the top end of the pitch where we could do with a hand now."
Elsewhere, George McCartney is still interesting Birmingham while Leicester have been linked with a surprise £2m move for Martyn Waghorn, who has found his chances limited this season. First-team football may attract the 20-year-old, who will fall further down the pecking order with the arrival of Gyan.
Captain Cattermole has spoken out over criticism of his game after leading Sunderland to their first win of the season over Manchester City. Cattermole was sent off on the opening game of the season, his debut as captain, but admitted he won't change his style of play. Catts said: "Being captain of the team won't change me or my game. I think I'm in the game to make tackles; it's what the manager wants from me and it's what fans want to see. I didn't leave the house for five days after I was sent off against Birmingham. I was sick about it because I know it cost us a win. The second yellow card I got was a bit stupid, and I need to be more careful with things like that. But it's so hard these days to know what's going to get you booked. It was nice to play in a game yesterday where a referee would allow tackles to be made as long as they were honest and not reckless."
Catts then went on to praise the team’s performance in the Man City game. He added: "The gaffer had a look at them when they beat Liverpool, and tried to set us up to match them all over the pitch, it worked a treat. We stayed with their runners, and didn't give them time on the ball. Everyone who went onto the pitch did their job. It's satisfying for us as a team and satisfying for me personally, because I felt I owed the team and the fans for getting sent off against Birmingham. This is where we need to start earning our money. We can't be beating good sides like City and then not playing nearly as well against your Wigans and West Broms. We owe the gaffer more than that."
Finally, more speculation has Bruce linked with a move for France right back Rod Fanni - but is waiting to hear back on an injury he picked up on Saturday. I reckon some reporter just wanted to write an innuendo filled headline.
post man city craic... Ghanaian international Asamoah Gyan on his way
The mighty Sunderland beat Man City 1-0 thanks to a late, late penalty which Darren Bent converted. A delighted Steve Bruce said: "I've just seen the penalty incident, I don't think there was any doubt it was a penalty. Maybe it was what we deserved for our endeavour and attitude. It was an intense game and it was always going to be. City have an array of talent when you look at who was coming off the bench. Man for man today it was all about what the Premier League is. We passed it well but the great thing is everyone stuck at their jobs and it was good to see us being resolute. Tevez will probably never miss like that again but we were due a bit of luck. It deserted us for a while. There's been a lot of negativity around the place. Now we have to make sure we keep moving forward and results like this obviously help. I didn't see the penalty when it was taken, I don't know where he stuck it but well done Benty. I still don't watch them!"
Jordan Henderson, who was awesome against City, had this to say afterwards, "I really enjoyed it; everyone's over the moon, the dressing room's buzzing. But it's important we take this into the next game now. It was a really good win and a great all-round team performance. Everyone played their part today. We played some good stuff today and defended very well. We've been working on our play a lot and hopefully we can get even better. In the first half we defended most of the time but played a bit more football in the second. We eased our way into it. We changed the formation and it worked well today. Having Lee sitting let myself and Steed get forward so maybe that's something we'll try again."
Sunderland are reportedly on the verge of bringing in Ghanaian international Asamoah Gyan from Rennes.
Despite the victory, Steve Bruce has injury worries over Micheal Turner and Fraizer Campbell. Bruce explained: "Michael Turner's hurt his ankle but I have to say we're frightened about Fraizer's injury. He's twisted his knee ligaments but we won't know until we scan him tomorrow. We hope he is going to be okay because in that area we are light. He could be out for an extended length of time and that would be a big blow for us."
Steve Bruce was impressed with Simon Mignolet's performance and in particular his second half save from Emmanuel Adebayor: "The save was magnificent and that will help him. He's still a boy and we brought him in because we think he is going to be an outstanding goalkeeper. He's got all the attributes; we've thrown him in at the deep end and he's produced a wonder save which kept us in the game."
Darren Bent has been named in the England squad for the Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland
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