Sunderland boss Steve Bruce says Michael Turner has the qualities needed to be an outstanding centre-half.

He said: "Everybody looked at him for a long, long time in the lower divisions, and he needed a crack at the Premier League.

"He grasped it last year very easily. He is very, very comfortable on the ball.

"I like his grounding because he has been in the lower divisions and he has progressed ever so well.

"I hope he can go on and have a really good career as a top Premier League defender.

"He has got all the attributes. He has certainly got everything we wanted to get.

"He is big and aggressive and when the ball comes into both boxes, he wants to head it, which has been our Achilles heel."