Sam hard but fair, says old pal Bruce

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce has launched a passionate defence of Blackburn counterpart Sam Allardyce amid the ongoing debate over reckless tackling.

Bruce and Allardyce are close friends and while the Black Cats boss knows exactly what to expect when he sends his team into battle with Rovers, he insists his Blackburn counterpart’s reputation is unwarranted.

He said: “I think I speak for Sam and every other manager, none of us want to go and send a team out that will physically hurt anybody else, that is absolute nonsense. “This Premier League is the way it is and the biggest spectacle that is beamed around the world because of the competitive nature of it, and if we take that away, we will just end up like everybody else.”