Sunderland defender John Mensah has been ruled out of Saturday's Premier League clash West Ham United.
It was thought the Ghana international could recover from a hamstring injury to be able to play for the Cats in the game.
But speaking this morning to the club's official website, coach Steve Bruce revealed John Mensah will miss out and is now focusing on the Burnley game as his potential comeback date.
Bruce says the influential Ghanaian centre-half will not be risked unless the club's physios are confident he can get through the game.
The injury-prone 27-year-old has impressed everyone at Sunderland with the quality of his performances this season.
And so good has he been that Bruce has been prepared to break his own rule of avoiding changing a settled back four 'if Mensah is fit' he plays.
That flexibility on the manager's part has proven to be the right way to go, for Sunderland are simply a better, more confident side when the World Cup-bound African plays.