Sunderland striker Asamoah Gyan has revealed how he introduced himself to John Mensah - by thumping him!

Black Cats boss Steve Bruce has signed a livewire, as Mensah will testify.

Gyan revealed: "There will always be somebody who is tense in the dressing room, so you have to make them laugh to free them. That's my job.

"Mensah knows. I got him. The way he was built up physically and because people in the national team were scared of him, I walked up to him one day wearing boxing gloves and punched him and kept punching him.

"I wanted to prove to him I was not scared of him but he didn't punch me back because he knows he can kill me with one punch! He just looked at me and laughed."