Sunderland boss Steve Bruce is relishing the mounting competition within his squad.
Despite shipping out 16 players through permanent and loan deals or retirement and bringing in just seven since his arrival at the Stadium of Light, Bruce is confident he has increased the level of quality.
That was in evidence for Sunday's Barclays Premier League clash with Wolves when £6million summer signing Fraizer Campbell and promising teenage midfielder Jordan Henderson, whose goals had fired the club into the Carling Cup fourth round five days earlier, found themselves sitting on the bench.
Campbell in particular had impressed in combination with either leading scorer Darren Bent or Kenwyne Jones in the previous three games to signal that he will not be content with a cameo role at the club.
But the big two responded in fine style on Sunday, each man converting a penalty and Jones blasting home from long range before Bent's late effort was deflected in by defender Michael Mancienne.
A delighted Bruce said: "I have always said since I have been in it, you are only as good as your strikers, and at the moment Fraizer, Kenwyne and Darren are a handful and have got us where we are at the moment. They are terrific."
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here ,here francis
what do you think about gordon as a keeper?and his ability to control his area and talk to defenders??
You need two more defenders. Especially at left back. Try also to get the team to pass more accurately. During the Wolves game they constantly gave the ball away. Also the goalkeeper needs to communicate with his back four, more.
Its easy sitting in an armchair but the standard is so high now in the EPL. If you want to compete against the Torres and Drogba,s its only good sense to build up a better defence.
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