Bruce: I nearly dropped Henderson

STEVE BRUCE last night revealed just how close he came to leaving match-winner Jordan Henderson out of the Sunderland side, which maintained its quest for a top 10 finish with another win.

Henderson scored the only goal of the game at a sub-zero Stadium of Light, but it was only down to a late reprieve that the midfielder figured. Bruce was ready to leave the 20-year-old out of his side until he impressed in training towards the end of last week.

The homegrown product, who won his first England cap against France last month, admitted to under-performing in the Black Cats' last two matches.

But after successfully persuading Bruce to play him, he converted Asamoah Gyan's first-half cross to lift Sunderland back up to seventh in the Premier League table, keeping up their outside hopes of competing for a place in Europe.

Bruce said: “I wouldn’t say it was mind games, but I just put it out there that it might be time to give him a bit of a rest. But the way he trained, it was impossible for me not to play him. Maybe he was reading what I was saying. He’s obviously been influenced by it.

“There will be a time where the kid needs a rest because he’s played for 18 months solid. He’s had a meteoric rise to the point where, a week ago, he was playing for England. That’s fantastic, but my job is also to look after and protect him. There’s going to be a time where we have to give them a rest. Thankfully, the moment isn’t just yet.’’

West Ham’s defeat sent them tumbling back to the foot of the table on goal difference, and piled more pressure on under-fire manager Avram Grant.

Last week’s Carling Cup quarter-final win over Manchester United bought the manager some breathing space, but his side are still to record their first Premier League away win of the season, a record that is causing increasing alarm.

“The difference between 1-0 and 0-0 is not so big, but we need to do something because we cannot keep on going without winning away from home,” Grant admitted.

“I don't really want to speak about the record. Stats are stats, but I am sure we will win away games. I don't think we will carry on much longer without winning.

“If you look at the table, we are only three points off the team in 17th and only six points off the teams in 14th or 15th. This is a gap that we can close if we continue to play like we have been playing in the last two months.”