Sunderland are 8/13 to be the top North East club in the Premier League but are facing a goalkeeping crisis after failing to persuade David James to sign.

The Black Cats now have one fit goalkeeper on their books – new boy Simon Mignolet - who has never played in the Premier League.

First-choice keeper Craig Gordon has been ruled out of the first two months of the season with a broken arm, but Bruce has insisted he will not renege on allowing Marton Fulop to join Ipswich.

Bruce wanted to bolster his squad by signing James, who had rejected new terms at Portsmouth but the England goalkeeper chose to join Championship outfit Bristol City as it was nearer to his home in the South West.

To make matters worse, the only other goalkeeper on the books – Trevor Carson – suffered a shoulder injury on the eve of Sunderland’s weekend friendly against Leicester.

Bruce had to draft in youth-team stopper Ben Wilson to sit on the bench at the Walkers Stadium.

The Sunderland boss (Sunderland 125/1 to be top Northern club) admitted that going into the new campaign with just Mignolet and Carson available was a “gamble” he was uncomfortable with – and now Carson’s injury means he will have to explore the possibility of signing another keeper on loan.

“Craig Gordon is out for at least another six to eight weeks, Marton Fulop is on the cusp of joining Ipswich – I’m not going to stop that one – and Trevor Carson got injured on Friday,” Bruce told the Newcastle Chronicle.

“That leaves you gambling, and in the Premier League I’m not really one for gambling. We need to make sure we are all right.

“We have got two outstanding young goalkeepers in Trevor and Simon Mignolet; that’s why I have let Fulop go. He made his intentions clear and I can understand.

“But we didn’t envisage the problem that Gordon’s had. It knocked us sideways.

“We will see how Trevor is but we may look to bring a keeper on loan. We’ll see what’s out there.”

Mignolet impressed against Leicester, making a string of saves, but he is unproven at Premier League level and it would be asking a lot to throw him in at the deep end.

But Bruce said: “You could see why we’ve brought him in. He has presence and made some good saves.

“But for Simon it was terrific. He has shown in pre-season we have a top, top young keeper.”

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