The 25-year-old turned in an impressive individual display in the Black Cats' 1-0 win over Bolton in the midst of a defensive crisis which is deepening by the week. With first-choice central partnership Titus Bramble and Michael Turner both on the long-term casualty list with knee injuries, John Mensah picked up an ankle injury which is likely to sideline him for up to three weeks. Ferdinand started the game alongside Mensah and then teamed up with Nedum Onuoha following the Ghana international's premature departure after his own return from the back-related hamstring problem which forced him off at Fulham last weekend. The pair were hugely instrumental in Sunderland's 10th clean sheet of the season - their ninth in the Premier League - although they needed a stunning save from keeper Craig Gordon to claim three points which catapulted them into sixth place. Bruce was full of praise for the former West Ham defender, who has emerged from a series of niggling injuries and a spectacular summer fall-out with his manager to re-establish himself just months after looking certain to leave the club. Ferdinand said: "All I have asked for is a run of games and I seem to be getting that at the moment. "That's what I want to be judged on, a run of games, not one game here, one game there. I want to be judged on a run of games. "It's just nice to know that I am a big part of the team at the moment and needed. "That only breeds confidence into a player and that's what it is doing to me. "It has been a rollercoaster, but hopefully that's the end of the rollercoaster now and all my niggles are behind me." Ferdinand is now in line to test his form against his brother Rio's Manchester United on Boxing Day, although the degree of difficult has increased markedly with the Black Cats looking certain to be without six key players. Bramble, Turner, Mensah and Fraizer Campbell are all injured, while Saturday's match-winner Danny Welbeck is ineligible under the terms of his loan agreement and skipper Lee Cattermole is suspended after reaching five bookings for the season on top of his two red cards. Cattermole was fortunate not to earn a third dismissal after a late second half challenge on Johan Elmander, an incident which sparked a heated debate between the two managers, although Bruce later admitted that the midfielder had perhaps been fortunate despite feeling his first caution was harsh.
