Cats' defensive dilemma; Cats boss facing a defensive dilemma.

STEVE Bruce will spend the weekend scouting for future Sunderland players, but the Black Cats manager admits his current ones will never be far from his mind after the international break threw up a potential defensive crisis for next week's visit of Liverpool, writes STUART RAYNER.

For the second month in succession, George McCartney has picked up an injury with Northern Ireland.

The 28-year-old was due to face the Czech Republic in Prague in Wednesday's World Cup qualifier, only to be ruled out yesterday with a foot injury.

In September he strained his hamstring preparing for their game in Poland. Bruce will be anxiously awaiting further updates on the latest problem, which threatens to compound Kieran Richardson's needless red card last week.

Richardson has been the Wearsiders' leftback since McCartney injured his hamstring, but the Londoner was sent off at Old Trafford last week for kicking the ball away and will now be suspended for Saturday's home game with the Merseysiders.

The good news is that having already qualified for the World Cup, Ghana have decided not to risk aggravating captain John Mensah's calf problem by asking him to play in tomorrow's match against Benin. Centre-back Mensah is therefore in prime position to deputise against the Reds. It only serves to underline why Fabio Capello's surprising refusal to call up Darren Bent to the England squad is perhaps not such a bad thing. As someone who knows the feeling of not having the England caps he deserved, Bruce can see the benefits as well as the drawbacks of Bent's exclusion.

"I would be delighted for the player (to be called up) because of the recognition, and there can't be any higher recognition," said Bruce, who somehow was never capped by his country. "But also there's nothing like sitting on a Saturday and a Wednesday scouring for information to check that your players are all right. "In the last international week George McCartney did a hamstring, M[sz]rton Fl|p came back injured and Kenwyne Jones got off the plane nowhere near fit enough to play in a Premier League game.

With all of those things, it's a double-edged sword." Jones will be in a similar position again next week. He is due to play for Trinidad and Tobago against Costa Rica tonight and then take on Mexico in a Port of Spain match which kicks off in the early hours of Thursday morning British time. He is not expected to return to London until Friday afternoon. Fl|p is with Hungary for their World Cup qualifier with Portugal, which could see the Iberians miss out on South Africa.

Craig Gordon has a rather less important engagement when he keeps goal for Scotland in their friendly in Japan, and Paulo Da Silva is due to captain Paraguay against Venezuela. Wednesday sees another raft of World Cup qualifiers involving Lorik Cana (for Albania against Sweden), Fulop (against Denmark), Da Silva (versus Columbia), Northern Ireland's David Healy and Jones. Sunderland's scouts will also be busy, with their focus on the South American market Bruce has tapped so success.fully in recent seasons. "Where I'm going personally, I haven't decided but there's two or three (options)," said Bruce. "Our two big scouts are away in South America and we're scouring the world." Meanwhile, Boudewijn Zenden expects to find out next week if the Black Cats are to be his fourth English club. The 33-year-old Dutch international has been training at the Academy of Light this week after being released by Marseilles in the summer. "I will know only towards the end of next week," said the former Chelsea, Middlesbrough and Liverpool midfielder.