The 30-year-old Frenchman was left out of the squad for the 0-0 home draw with Fulham on February 28 following a breach of a club curfew. But he returned to the team on Tuesday night to turn in arguably his best performance under Bruce, despite lining up on the left wing, as the Black Cats ended their 14-game wait for a Premier League victory with a 4-0 demolition of Bolton. He could be handed the same role against Manchester City tomorrow with Andy Reid out and Kieran Richardson struggling with a calf injury, and his manager will be looking for a similar display. Bruce said: "He has certainly had his best two games of the season playing there, and I thought he was our best player the other night. "We had a lot of players playing very well but Steed, certainly in the six months I have been here, it was the best performance I have seen him put in. "He was terrific and fair play to him. He responded in the right way, he took the challenge. He didn't sulk about what had happened the previous week, being left out of the squad. "He came in and did very, very well. I was pleased." City will be a very different proposition to Bolton as they arrive on Wearside with their expensively-assembled squad, including Sunderland-born winger and former target Adam Johnson. Black Cats chairman Niall Quinn has spent much of the last week outlining his club's financial situation and the debt of gratitude it owes to owner Ellis Short. Money, of course, is not an issue at Eastlands, although Bruce knows that cash alone does not guarantee success. He said: "We have just seen Real Madrid knocked out of the Champions League, it doesn't necessarily buy it. "You have got to work at it and work at it but it obviously helps the situation. "We have just had a meeting about how they are going to play and what they have got at their disposal, and they just trip off your tongue, the attacking options they have, the size of the squad, the depth of the squad, the good players they have. "It will be a tough game, and they have got an outstanding chance of getting into the Champions League, which is what they want." Sunderland skipper Lorik Cana will be missing as he starts a two-game ban for reaching 10 bookings for the season, while Bruce has doubts over midfield trio Lee Cattermole, Jordan Henderson and Richardson.
