Bruce looking for improvement

Steve Bruce is looking for his Sunderland team to bounce back to form after a recent poor run of form. Defeats to Wigan, Fulham and Aston Villa, coupled with only a point from lowly Portsmouth's visit to the Stadium of Light has seen the Black Cats slip to 10th place and off the pace set by the European contenders. "You are only ever as good as your last game and that's the frustration of football, especially, in my experience, in the Premier League," said manager Steve Bruce. "You are going along very, very well ... we beat Arsenal a month ago and looked at the fixtures and thought, 'What a great opportunity'. We had a great win against Arsenal and shot ourselves in the foot against Wigan and Fulham in particular. Some would say - and a steward told me the other day - that's typical of Sunderland. "It's typical, and that's what we have got to try to change." Lee Cattermole is certain to replace the suspended Lorik Cana. City will be without central defender Joleon Lescott, who is out for the rest of the year with a knee injury picked up in Wednesday's 3-0 loss at Tottenham.Nigel de Jong will also miss the game due to suspension. He collected his fifth booking of the season at Tottenham.

Manchester City v Sunderland, KO 7pm, Showsports 3