Bruce Hungry For Points

Wigan manager Steve Bruce feels tomorrow's home clash against Sunderland could be an early 'six-pointer' in the Premier League.

The two teams successfully battled against the drop last season and are eager to get themselves clear of this year's survival scrap as soon as possible.

Wigan enjoyed a 5-0 victory over one of the relegation favourites, Hull, last time out, and Bruce believes points are already important in the battle for top-flight survival.

"It's one of those games you can't afford to lose and (Sunderland boss) Roy Keane will be saying the same thing," he said.

"We expect Sunderland to be one of our competitors, and it'll be like it was with Hull after they beat Fulham.

"It was a huge win for us because if Hull had turned us over too, they'd have got off to a wonderful start, so it's important that we get a result."

Bruce moved to bolster his squad this week with the Latics set to seal the signing of goalkeeper Richard Kingson after having a medical at the club's training ground on Thursday.

Having let third-choice keeper Carlo Nash join Everton on transfer-deadline day, Bruce turned to Kingson, who was a free agent after being released by Birmingham.

Bruce signed the 30-year-old Ghana international last summer while still Birmingham boss, and although he made just three appearances for the Blues, Bruce remains a big admirer.

"He was always in the back of my mind when we let Carlo Nash go to Everton," he said.

"Carlo was a bit frustrated with the number of games he got, and with the outstanding contribution of Chris Kirkland and Mike Pollitt behind him, Carlo decided to try his luck elsewhere.

"So we're delighted to have brought in Richard on a two-year deal and he'll be a good acquisition for us."

Bruce will assess the condition of his international contingent once they have all returned to the club before deciding his starting line-up to face the Wearsiders.

"I always think there's going to be a lull in the game [after the international break] because if you fly from South America even without playing a game, it's difficult to recover in 24-48 hours," he said.

"Some of them will only be back in for training on Friday so I'll have to take that into consideration when I'm picking the team."

 

Source - Yahoo! Sport / Eurosport