Black Cats to bounce back – Bruce

Steve Bruce has called on his Sunderland players to respond to last week’s defeat to Wolves when they face bottom club West Ham United on Sunday.

Sunderland let themselves down badly last Saturday when they let slip a 2-1 lead over Wolverhampton Wanderers with only 10 minutes remaining at Molineux.

Wolves went on to win with two late goals – handing the Black Cats only their third league defeat of the campaign.

And a bitterly disappointed Bruce has called on his players to respond as positively as they have done after previous defeats this season.

“I’m hoping for a good reaction from my players this Sunday against West Ham because we need one – the way we played in the dying minutes at Molineux just wasn’t acceptable,” he said.

“We were all over the place defensively and the mentality from the players just wasn’t there. But what I will say is that we’ve responded very well to setbacks this season and I’m looking for us to do the same again.”

“We lost at West Brom and went on a good run and then we lost at Newcastle and went on a good run too.”

“So I want that pattern to continue this weekend and for us to quickly put a bad result behind us. on the long-term injured list now and we have to show we can cope without them.”

As well as missing Michael Turner (knee) and Titus Bramble (knee), Bruce is also without striker Fraizer Campbell and midfielder David Meyler – both recovering from knee ligament injuries.