Recently by Stuart Rayner
MATTHEW Kilgallon will use Joleon Lescott and former centre-back partner Phil Jagielka as inspiration to make the most of his second chance as a Premier League footballer.
The York-born defender was a youngster learning his trade when he played in the top-flight for Leeds United. But after the Whites' relegation he spent six years in the second tier.
Jagielka and Lescott both came to the Premier League at a relatively late age - from Sheffield United and Wolverhampton Wanderers respectively.
HAVING spent the entire transfer window searching for a right-back, Sunderland could sign two in the final 24 hours of trading.
Alan Hutton was on Wearside yesterday ahead of what is expected to be a deadline-day move. But the Black Cats denied reports in some quarters late last night that a £2m deal had been agreed for Egyptian Ahmed Al-Muhammadi, who helped his country win the Africa Cup of Nations yesterday.
With no signings other than free agents possible after 5pm today, they will certainly be hoping to parade Hutton before tonight's televised game at home to Stoke City.
STEVE Bruce has told Sunderland their next two games will define their season.
The Black Cats' miserable away run was extended to 11 Premier League matches without a win as Everton hit them with two early goals at Goodison Park last night.
But their next two matches are at home - to Stoke City and Wigan Athletic - and Bruce warned a sequence of one win in 13 games cannot be allowed to worsen. A sloppy and disjointed start from the visitors allowed Tim Cahill and Landon Donovan to find the net in the first 20 minutes - and Sunderland never recovered.
Television replays suggested Cahill was in an offside position when he glanced in the opener, but Sunderland Bruce was more alarmed at the space both the Australian and his provider, Marouane Fellaini, were afforded.
FOR the second time in a matter of days Steve Bruce has held talks with Kenwyne Jones, telling his unsettled striker to sort himself out - and quickly.
Sunderland travel to Everton in the Premier League this evening with the Black Cats manager worrying which Jones will be available.
As Bruce admitted, the Trinidad and Tobago international was way off the pace at Portsmouth on Saturday. He put that down to speculation about a move to Liverpool.
But having tried desperately to draw a line under the affair, Bruce has now put the onus on Jones to start earning his wages again.
DAYS after Sunderland manager Steve Bruce expressed an interest in signing him, striker Salvador Cabañas is fighting for his life in an American hospital.
The Paraguay international was shot after an incident in a Mexico City bar yesterday.
Black Cats boss Bruce, who has a proven track record of signings from Central and South America, had been interesting in taking Paulo Da Silva's international team-mate on loan with a view to a permanent summer move.
Bruce was open about his interest in the 29-year-old, who has scored 18 goals in 24 matches for Club America this season, although played down the chances of it happening. The player's agent José María González claimed Sunderland had been in touch, and his client was interested.
DESPITE hoping to tie up their first signing of the January transfer window in the coming days, Sunderland are yet to make a bid for defensive target Guy Demel.
Steve Bruce declared at the weekend he was close to making his first signing of 2010 but Demel's club, Hamburg, do not expect it to be the Ivory Coast international.
The 28-year-old is top of the Black Cats' list of potential right-back targets. But with Demel currently in Angola for the African Cup of Nations, their interest is yet to produce a cash offer, according to Hamburg chairman Bernd Hoffmann. "It has been in the news that there is an interest of a club from England in the services of Guy Demel," he said.
STEVE Bruce has promised there will be no knee-jerk reaction to Saturday's 7-2 humiliation at Chelsea - and definitely no bid for Liverpool winger Ryan Babel.
Flattering though it was to Sunderland, the Stamford Bridge scoreline highlighted their desperate need for reinforcements - particularly defensively.
The Black Cats are closing in on their first signing of 2010, expected to be Hamburg's Ivory Coast right-back Guy Demel - but Bruce was adamant neither the nature nor the scale of defeat would affect his plans for the January transfer window.
SUNDERLAND allowed one defender to leave yesterday, but despite Guy Demel expecting a bid for his services "soon", there is no replacement on the horizon.
The Black Cats have released Russell Anderson - an obvious move when viewed in the context of how little football he has played for them, but arguably a risky one given the lack of defensive alternatives.
The Scottish centre-back's Wearside career effectively ended long ago, but he was twice needed as an unused substitute in December, against Portsmouth and Blackburn Rovers.
STEVE Bruce is hoping to put transfer business to one side this week and concentrate on reviving Sunderland's season with the players he already has.
Although the agent of Paraguay forward Salvador Cabañas is expecting progress on a move to Wearside in the coming days, Sunderland boss Bruce says that he is aiming to spend a quiet time at the Black Cats' Portuguese training camp.
Less than a fortnight into the transfer window, Bruce is bemused at the level of speculation surrounding Sunderland.
STEVE Bruce admits working with Kenwyne Jones is a test of his managerial qualities but one he expects to continue for some time yet after casting doubt over whether any of the enigmatic striker's suitors can afford him.
The Black Cats manager is monitoring Schalke's Kevin Kuranyi, and interest from Birmingham City and Stoke City in Jones led to the conclusion that the latter's days on Wearside are numbered.
But Bruce's scepticism over those deals lead him to think otherwise.
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