Sunderland vs Fulham preview - Striker headache for Bruce

Posted Saturday, April 30, 2011 by PA

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce will head into their Barclays Premier League clash with Fulham without a single senior striker fit.

Asamoah Gyan and Danny Welbeck (both hamstring) are unlikely to play again this season and Fraizer Campbell (knee) is out for a year, while even youngster Ryan Noble damaged a knee on youth team duty earlier this week.

Benin international Stephane Sessegnon is the main candidate for a lone role up front, while full-back Phil Bardsley has recovered from the bout of concussion he suffered during last Saturday's 4-2 victory over Wigan.

John Mensah (adductor tear) and Anton Ferdinand (hamstring) are being assessed, but Kieran Richardson (hamstring) is likely to miss out and Titus Bramble, Craig Gordon and David Meyler (all knee) remain on the sidelines.

Defender Philippe Senderos could make his first appearance for Fulham in the Barclays Premier League clash at Sunderland.

The Switzerland international joined from Arsenal last June but has yet to feature for the Cottagers after picking up a serious Achilles injury.

Senderos was included in the squad for the first time in Wednesday's 3-0 victory over Bolton and could be given a taste of first-team action from the bench at the Stadium of Light.

Fulham manager Mark Hughes will be hoping Damien Duff has recovered from his own Achilles complaint, while Bobby Zamora and Andrew Johnson will be pushing for starts having both come on as substitutes in the last two games.

Hughes believes his side still have a lot to play for this season and thinks they can pick up an away victory.

The Londoners all but secured their Barclays Premier League survival with a comprehensive 3-0 victory against Bolton at Craven Cottage on Wednesday.

Clint Dempsey's brace and a Brede Hangeland header secured the three points that propelled the side up to ninth in the standings.

With the upper echelons seemingly out of reach and relegation staved off, Fulham could be forgiven for taking it easy for the final four games.

However, boss Hughes insists the inherent motivation within his side will ensure they do not rest on their laurels in those matches, which include home games against Liverpool and Arsenal.

"We have two big games in fairness but we have still got challenges, which I think is good at this time of the year," he said.

"We want to see the season through to its conclusion and see where it takes us and obviously we have an opportunity to add to our away wins, which have been few and far between.

"We have an opportunity at the weekend, maybe Sunderland will be down on numbers in terms of who they can put out on the field.

"Maybe that will help us but we will still have to play as well as we did on Wednesday to get a positive result but let's see what happens."