Read more about Sunderland.
Bent in battle to face the Blues
Sunderland, 13:35, August 13, 2010 ,
Striker Darren Bent will be given as long as possible to prove his fitness for Sunderland's Premier League opener against Birmingham.
Last season's influential top scorer picked up a back spasm in midweek and was forced out of the England squad ahead of their 2-1 friendly international win against Hungary at Wembley on Wednesday. And, while boss Steve Bruce feels Bent has no more than a 50-50 chance of playing, he will hand him as long as possible to show he is over his injury.
If Bent fails a fitness test then new loan signing Danny Welbeck and youngster Martyn Waghorn will fight it out for a start in attack, while new goalkeeper Simon Mignolet is certain to be given his debut with Craig Gordon sidelined by a broken arm.
Michael Turner is suspended, while George McCartney and Anton Ferdinand have not been given squad numbers. Therefore Titus Bramble, Nedum Onouha, John Mensah, Marcos Angeleri, Paulo da Silva and Cristian Riveros will all hope to make their debuts.
There is another injury blow for Bruce with influential midfielder Andy Reid definitely out of the Blues game due to an Achilles injury.