Sunderland boss Steve Bruce hopes the hunger of his young side will help the Black Cats triumph against Newcastle in Sunday’s Tyne-Wear derby at St James’ Park.
The Northumberland-born Black Cats boss will be experiencing his first showdown between the bitter North East rivals with the Wearside outfit in solid form.
Sunderland are on a seven-game unbeaten run in the Premier League, which has included meetings with Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Aston Villa, and have kept clean sheets in each of their last three games.
Of the 11 men who took the field against Villa last Saturday, only one – Steed Malbranque – was aged 30 or above with the average a little more than 24.
The likes of Lee Cattermole, Jordan Henderson, Danny Welbeck and Ahmed Elmohamady are younger than that, the result of a deliberate policy from Bruce which has been backed fully by chairman Niall Quinn.
Bruce said: “Certainly what we have got is a young, hungry, aggressive team which can only get better.
“As I look through the midfield four, for example, Welbeck is 19, Cattermole is 22, Henderson is 20, Elmohamady is 23, so they are all just learning their trade.
“But that’s what we wanted, that’s what I wanted and Niall has backed me on that.
“We wanted a really, really young, energetic team to take the club forward.”
Strength in depth
Bruce acknowledges that fielding such a young side can have its drawbacks, but he does also have experience at his disposal.
Former Holland international Bolo Zenden, 34, and 27-year-old Ghana skipper John Mensah were used as substitutes at the weekend, along with record signing Asamoah Gyan, who was this week shortlisted for FIFA’s Ballon d’Or award.
In addition, Britain’s most expensive keeper, Craig Gordon, and Paraguay internationals Paulo da Silva and Cristian Riveros, who like Mensah and Gyan played in the World Cup quarter-finals this summer, were left sitting on the bench alongside Anton Ferdinand.
Bruce said: “I have Craig Gordon, who is a very, very good goalkeeper, and four players who played in the World Cup quarter-finals sitting behind me.
“That shows you the strength in depth we have managed to attract over the last 12, 15 months, and it bodes well.”
