Bruce says Gray has potential to play for England

ENGLAND have long prayed for a naturally-gifted left-sided winger, yet manager Sven-Goran Eriksson could soon be blessed in that department.

Two bright young things have come to the fore in Middlesbrough’s Stewart Downing and Birmingham’s Julian Gray.

Downing has so far been a revelation at the Riverside, and his performance in Boro’s UEFA Cup victory over Lazio was full of rich promise. But like any position in a squad, you need competition for places and Gray is staking his claim, as Liverpool found to their cost on Saturday.

He posed Rafael Benitez’s side countless problems, and it was his industry late in the game that resulted in the corner which led to the shock 77th-minute winner from Darren Anderton. Said manager Steve Bruce: “He is naturally an attacking player and he can be anything he wants to be. “His athleticism and ability are terrific, and I think England are already looking at him because there’s a dearth of players down that left side.

“Although he has only played eight games in the Premier League, if he keeps playing the way he does, then who knows.

“But he has been like that all season. He has made it very difficult for me. I’ve had to leave out people like [Stan] Lazaridis and [Jamie] Clapham, but he has come in and I’ve had to stay with him.

Anderton’s first Premiership goal for a year ended Birmingham’s 380-minute goal drought, but more significantly, gave City their first away win in the league since December 13.

Anderton was naturally delighted.

“I very rarely win at Anfield, so to play in a team that has won and to score the winning goal is an absolute dream,” he said.

“We have basically done to Liverpool what teams have been doing to us this season and it’s about time we had a bit of luck.”

Due to his fitness, Anderton has been used sparingly by Bruce since a summer transfer from Tottenham, but that did not detract him from praising the midfielder who came on as a 63rd-minute substitute.

“He has had a tough 12 to 18 months, but he will remember that goal,” added Bruce.

“There have been times over our recent bad run that I’ve been tempted, because of his experience and ability, to throw him in.

“But we always thought we would first make him as fit as we possibly can and then when he does get the chance, he then plays a big part in our season.”

Notably, that “little bit of luck” came when Muzzy Izzet’s right arm blocked a goal-bound Luis Garcia drive six minutes before City struck the winner, but there was no penalty.

No excuses for Liverpool, though, for they had the chances to win the game, even with Milan Baros out with a hamstring injury to join Djibril Cisse on the sidelines.

Benitez, though, was typically phlegmatic. He said: “We knew it would be difficult after our Champions League game against Deportivo, but we had many clear chances. It was just bad luck or good goalkeeping, and then from one mistake they score.”