Catt's in the bag at last for Bruce; [phone] [e-mail].

Byline: Stuart Rayner

STEVE Bruce's relentless summer pursuit of Lee Cattermole has finally come to a successful conclusion after the Teessider joined Sunderland in a pounds 6m deal.

As well as adding much-needed bite to the Black Cats' midfield, Cattermole's arrival will strengthen their thin defensive resources.

For his part the 21-year-old expects Bruce to keep the grin on his face that he says has not left him since he started working with the former defender 12 months ago.

Bruce brought Cattermole to Wigan Athletic and made him one of his top targets after moving to the Stadium of Light in the summer. It was a partnership he was only too happy to revive.

"My year with Steve Bruce was brilliant and when I got the chance to come and play again with him I couldn't turn it down," Cattermole told his new club's official website.

"He put his faith in me to go and play my football at Wigan and the smile was never off my face last year.

"He's an honest English guy who expects hard work and a work ethic from his players - if you give that to him, he appreciates it a lot."

Having lost Bruce, assistant manager Eric Black, coach Keith Bertschin, goal-keepincoach Nigel Spink and even Press officer Andy Maxey to Sunderland, the Latics were loathe to see Cattermole join the exodus. But Bruce persevered and was rewarded yesterday.

High on Bruce's list of priorities this summer were ball-winning midfielders and leaders. Albanian international Lorik Cana fit the bill when he joined from Marseilles, and Cattermole boasts similar qualities.

The Stockton-born midfielder was one of a number of highly promising youngsters at Middlesbrough. He was man of the match on his full debut, a 2-2 draw at Newcastle United in January 2006.

Later that season the then-18-year-old became Boro's youngest captain, and came on as a substitute in the Uefa Cup final. He made 42 league starts in three seasons at the Riverside, but his pounds 3.5m move to Wigan was the making of him. Cattermole enhanced his reputation in 33 starts last term but it was not all positive. Dubious tackles on Joey Barton and Habib Beye brought unwanted attention, and the midfielder was booked ten times and red-carded twice in the campaign. At this summer's European Under-21 Championships in Sweden, Cattermole showed there was more to his game than brawn, however. Fabrice Muamba was one of the biggest positives of England's run to the final. Some feel Cana and Cattermole are too similar to play together but the former is also an experienced centre-back, an area which Bruce is anxious to strengthen. So far this summer the Black Cats have only added Paulo Da Silva to their defensive ranks, which were already looking thin. Three weeks after joining on a free transfer,

Da Silva is still awaiting a work permit. The problem stopped him joining his Paraguay team-mates for a friendly in Seoul yesterday which South Korea won 1-0. Sunderland targets Sylvain Distin of Portsmouth, free agent Lucas Neill and Lyon's John Mensah can all play centre-back, and Neill and Mensah are comfortable at full-back too. None of the deals are straightforward, however, because of interest from rival clubs - including, in Neill's case, two from abroad. Defender Paul McShane is at least recovering from his knee injury ahead of schedule. When the Republic of Ireland international picked up the problem in a pre-season friendly at Darlington he was expected to miss up to three months. Bruce is now looking at a mid- September return for the 23-yearold. "Hopefully he'll be back in training in around two to three weeks," the manager told the club's official website. Meanwhile, Ipswich Town were last night reported to be closing in on the pounds 1.5m signing of Daryl Murphy.

The Mick McCarthy signing has scored 14 goals in over 100 league appearances for the Black Cats but failed to establish himself at centreforward or on the left wing. Catt's in the bag at last for Bruce From Back Page THE full draw for the second round of the Carling Cup, ties to be played week commencing August 24. CARLING CUP DRAW West Brom v Rotherham Norwich v SUNDERLAND Tranmere v Bolton QPR v Accrington Bristol City v CARLISLE Leyton Orient v Stoke Port Vale v Sheffield Wednesday Hull v Southend Leeds v Watford Cardiff v Bristol Rovers Portsmouth v Hereford Crystal Palace v Manchester City Wolves v Swindon Gillingham v Blackburn Blackpool v Wigan Southampton v Birmingham Preston v Leicester NEWCASTLE v Huddersfield West Ham v Millwall HARTLEPOOL v Burnley Nottingham Forest v MIDDLESBROUGH Reading v Barnsley Swansea v Scunthorpe Doncaster v Tottenham Peterborough v Ipswich

His central midfield partnership with

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HERE AT LAST Lee Cattermole celebrates signing for Sunderland, who proved determined to land him.