Sulley Muntari was the first to pull up with a calf problem after a clash with a Liverpool player, then minutes later Kieran Richardson going down holding his hamstring. Later on in the second half Bardsley showed signs of an knee injury not being able to make the breaking runs he made in the first half, but with Bruce using up the 3rd sub of the day taking Welbeck off Sunderland most consistent player had to battle on.
Steve Bruce has revealed there are problems with centre backs John Mensah and Anton Ferdinand, Mensah, Muntari as well as Bardsley are set to miss out on the forth coming International friendlies.
Bruce said, “We’ve had no luck at all with injuries on the day and it’s frustrating because just as we think we’re all singing and all dancing again on the injury front, we’ve lost a bundle again.
“To lose two players before the half way point of the first half was something we just couldn’t have legislated for and it has to have an effect on you, though I thought we handled things up until the officials’ mistake for the penalty that was given just after the half-hour.”
“Phil will have a scan in the morning on his knee. Muntari’s is a calf injury and Richardson’s is a hamstring.
“That is a frustration for me because just as we think we are all singing and dancing again, we have lost two who have been mainstays over the last few weeks. It’s frustrating.
“I will have a conversation with Stuart Pearce over Danny Welbeck and the Under-21s. I did have a conversation with Stuart, who was only going to play him in one game anyway.
“I am sure he will be sensible enough with him.
“We have made a call to the Scottish FA, I can’t see Phil joining up. I can’t see Muntari joining up with Ghana, but until we have scans and get results we can’t be sure. They have got to report these days to their own FAs, but I would have thought they would all be extremely doubtful.”