Bruce questions summer of change

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce has admitted he has probably been too active in the transfer market again this summer as he attempts to take the club to the next step.

Bruce has drafted in eight men to date - Titus Bramble, Cristian Riveros, Simon Mignolet and Marcos Angeleri, as well as loan signings Ahmed Elmohamady, John Mensah, Danny Welbeck and Nedum Onouha, while around 25 players have headed through the exit door since his arrival on Wearside.

Bruce said: "We have done a lot - probably too much again - and when you do make a lot of changes, like Saturday for example, people like Simon Mignolet and Cristian Riveros and Ahmed Elmohamady, the one thing they all need is time."

He added: "We have sort of thrown them in at the deep end because of necessity, and that's maybe a bit unfair on them.

"Every time when you go away and bring a player in from abroad, you must do one thing, give them time. Wilson Palacios, for example, was six months, Maynor Figueroa was 12 months before I put him in.

"You have got to give them time to adjust. I noticed on Saturday Cristian Riveros scratching his head and thinking, 'Wow, I have never been kicked around like that before' - and that's by West Brom, who, no disrespect, are one of the less physical teams in the division.

"But he will learn from it and given time, he will adjust."

Bruce is yet to replace striker Kenwyne Jones following his £8million switch to Stoke, and while the club is actively pursuing targets, he insists nothing is close to completion.

He said: "I would love to bring in a couple of players, as I have said before. Whether that's possible, I'm still not quite sure.

"We have got a couple of irons in the fire. We hope we can pull them off - it would be nice to if we possibly can, but at this moment, we haven't got anything imminent."