Thick snow has blanketed the North East for the past week, leaving the Black Cats unable to use their training ground and instead forcing them to train on the Stadium of Light pitch.

That is in good condition and only concerns about the stadium and surrounding areas could put the game in doubt, but Bruce cannot see a problem providing there is no significant further snowfall.

He said: "Obviously it's the surrounding areas and what comes within the next 24 hours. At the moment, there seems to be no problem with the stadium."

Battling the elements is something Bruce has had to get used to after a prolonged spell of cold weather also affected Sunderland badly last winter.

"Up in the North East I think we've had it worse than anybody else," he continued. "We've had it for the best part of eight days. We've trained at the stadium, we've had to. When there's two foot of snow, there's not much else you can do.

"A lot of people have worked extremely hard to get the stadium ready and get the pitch ready. Of course your worry is about the pitch but it's bearing up well at the moment.

"It does cause a problem up here. It certainly disrupted us all last year, we had something like six weeks of it. We're into a week now and the weather forecast isn't looking very good so we'll just have to do the best we can.

"There's no question you can't prepare like you should do. And I'm sure the one thing we all try to do is make sure that the preparation is right. It's a vital part of it."

Sunderland will be looking to bounce back on Sunday following last weekend's disappointing 3-2 defeat by struggling Wolves.

The loss of centre-back pairing Titus Bramble and Michael Turner to injury in the same week last month hit the Black Cats particularly hard, but Bruce does not want that to be an excuse.

He said: "We're disappointed but the one area we've done particularly well in is, when we've had a disappointing result, we've bounced back from it, and we need to go again.

"It's a vital part of the season. We have to get over the loss of Turner and Bramble and defend better. If we do that, we know, with the attacking players we've got, that we'll be a threat."

Currently spearheading the attack is young striker Danny Welbeck, who, after failing to score in his first 13 appearances for Sunderland, has netted four times in three games.

The 20-year-old, who is currently keeping record signing Asamoah Gyan out of the team, is on a season-long loan from Manchester United, and Bruce admitted the chances of signing him permanently are receding by the goal.

"He's done fantastically well," said the Black Cats boss. "I think the lad has just enjoyed playing. He needed to play.

"Of course it'll cost a few quid to try and buy him but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. If I'm being honest, I'm sure he's still got a part to play with (United boss) Sir Alex (Ferguson) and we've got to accept that."

While picking his strikeforce is a welcome headache for Bruce, his defensive injury woes are certainly not.

There was at least some good news this week when John Mensah was able to train after being forced off at Wolves following a blow to his recently-dislocated shoulder.

"He's still probably a week ahead of schedule," added Bruce. "John being John, he's trained all week and wants to play so I can't see any problem."

Mensah will again link up with Anton Ferdinand in central defence while midfielder David Meyler is in contention for the first time this season after recovering from a serious knee injury.