Bruce drops Bent for Stoke clash

Leading scorer Darren Bent missed out as Sunderland boss Steve Bruce handed record signing Asamoah Gyan a first Barclays Premier League start against Stoke.

Bent, one of several members of the squad to have been affected by a flu bug during the week, dropped out from the side beaten 5-1 at Newcastle last weekend along with the suspended Titus Bramble.

Gyan’s Ghana team-mate John Mensah took over from Bramble as the Black Cats attempted to restore their battered pride.

Stoke manager Tony Pulis named the same team which slipped to a fourth successive defeat in all competitions at Everton last weekend, and that meant returns to the Stadium of Light for Sunderland old boys Danny Collins, Dean Whitehead and, for the first time since his summer move, Kenwyne Jones.