Bruce blessed with selection dilemma for Wolves game

The Sunderland manager, Steve Bruce, has a major selection problem ahead of Sunday's Premier League meeting with Wolves.

However, it is a welcome one after he watched recent signings John Mensah and Paulo da Silva star as the Black Cats eased past Birmingham into the Carling Cup third round on Tuesday night with a 2-0 win.

The teenage midfielder Jordan Henderson and £6m striker Fraizer Campbell provided the goals which claimed a victory which was even more comprehensive than the scoreline suggests, but it was the defensive solidity provided in part by the Ghanaian and his Paraguayan counterpart which stood out.

Bruce said: "People like Da Silva and Mensah, who are wonderfully experienced and good players will obviously help the cause. They have given me food for thought. They have produced a performance tonight which was exactly what I wanted, like Andy Reid did at Norwich. They have said, 'I want to be in the team, too'. They have given me a big, big problem for Sunday, that's for sure."

Even £8m defender Anton Ferdinand from his seat on the bench was left with plenty to reflect upon. Bruce added: "He was sitting behind me and he must look at it and think, 'I have got a bit of competition here', which is what you want to try to create. That's good for us."

Sunderland had the tie wrapped up within 23 first-half minutes as a much-changed City outfit failed to put up a fight. Henderson claimed his first senior goal for the club with just four minutes gone, and when Campbell followed suit 19 minutes later, the victory was effectively secured. Birmingham could have lost even more heavily had their goalkeeper Maik Taylor not blocked a Kenwyne Jones shot with his legs, while Mensah, making his first start for the club, had a 57th-minute strike ruled out for a foul.

Bruce said: "We were very, very comfortable, it was a very decent performance. To be fair, we were easy winners. I was very, very pleased with all of them. It was a good performance."

The City manager, Alex McLeish, who made seven changes from the side which won at Hull in the Premier League at the weekend, insisted he had little choice but to protect his key men. He said: "We have got bigger fish to fry. I would have loved to progress in the cup, but it would have been a massive bonus for us to come here with the players we have missing.

"We played some young players. Our defending was too open in the first half. We were a bit too open at the start of the game and exposed to Sunderland's pace in the front four."