With Asamoah Gyan and Danny Welbeck having joined Fraizer Campbell on the casualty list, Bruce went into Saturday's Barclays Premier League match with Fulham without a single senior striker available, and even youngster Ryan Noble ruled out with a knee problem.
But where the gamble of playing midfielders Stephane Sessegnon and Steed Malbranque in advanced roles against Wigan Athletic a week earlier after Gyan and Welbeck had succumbed paid off handsomely in a 4-2 victory, a lack of firepower proved costly at the weekend.
Malbranque in particular passed up a gilt-edged opportunity and the visitors made the Black Cats pay as Simon Davies snatched a double after Gael Kakuta had opened the scoring to seal a 3-0 win at the Stadium of Light.
The defeat was Sunderland's ninth in 11 league matches and means they have taken just four of the last 33 points they have contested.
With no improvement on the injury situation expected before the end of the campaign, Bruce will tackle the final three matches looking to his midfielders for inspiration in front of goal.
Henderson scored twice against Wigan to underline his potency, although the 20-year-old limped off with 15 minutes of Saturday's match remaining, and the manager will keep his fingers crossed over a man he believes could provide a temporary solution to his problems.
Bruce said: "The one thing about him when he plays on the right, he does arrive in the box and it seems to give him a bit more licence to get forward.
"That suited him, and for him to score a couple of goals was terrific.
"That's what he needs to improve - the kid knows that. The good thing about him is, as you have seen, when he does get there, he finishes. When he gets a chance, he can finish.
"We have to keep working on it, to arrive in the box and want to get in there. He can be a threat."
No comments:
Post a Comment