Bent hit five of the Black Cats' seven goals so far this term, but Bruce believes that too much reliance on the England striker could be his side's 'Achilles heel'.

"It is maybe our Achilles heel that we rely too much on Benty, and today we needed someone else to come to the party," he said after the 0-0 draw with Manchester United.

"We have to get goals from elsewhere. Ahmed Elmohamady has always scored goals.

"Jordan Henderson scored a few when he was a kid, Steed Malbranque’s always scored a couple. We have to start contributing from other areas."

Elmohamady used to play as a center-forward during his early days with Ghazl Mahalla, before switching to the right flank with ENPPI.

The Sunderland loanee has been overachieving at the Stadium of Light so far, but has yet to score his first goal for Bruce's team.