STEVE Bruce has passionately denied accusations that he has contributed to Sunderland's wretched injury record by forcing players to return to first-team action too quickly.

There was more bad news for the Black Cats yesterday as scans detected a fractured fibula that will sideline Kieran Richardson for the remainder of the campaign.

Richardson is one of ten senior players who will miss the final three matches of the season and, like a number of his injured team-mates, the midfielder attempted to return to training, only for his problems to rapidly worsen.

The likes of Craig Gordon, Titus Bramble, David Meyler, Lee Cattermole and Fraizer Campbell have all suffered a recurrence of a previous problem at some stage of the season, leading to criticism of Bruce's selection policy.

The Sunderland boss admits he has never encountered such a crippling injury list, but denies making the situation worse by rushing injured players back into action before they are ready.

"I wouldn't put anybody onto a football pitch who I didn't think was fit enough to take part in the game," said Bruce, who also confirmed that Cattermole and Michael Turner will not feature again this season.

"When they've come back to us, they've been ready. The only one we could maybe say (that did not apply to) was Titus. He'd been out for four weeks and came back and put himself forward saying, ‘I'm fit enough and I want to play'.

"I don't think that (rushing players back) has been an issue, although we're obviously looking at why some of these recurrences have occured.

"A number of our players have had breakdowns and that's something we have to analyse. But I don't think any of those players were rushed back at all.

"I can accept criticism, that's part and parcel of the job, but if I look at myself, I don't think you can take a chance with any of your players."

Nevertheless, Richardson is merely the latest Sunderland player to suffer a serious injury that could yet hamper their preparation for the start of next season.

Bruce is hoping the England international will be available for the start of pre-season training in July, but after his injury, which was sustained in last month's win over West Brom, remained undetected for almost a month, it is hard to put too precise a time frame on his recovery.

"Kieran got a knock in the West Brom game and the surgeon went with him to have some X-rays straight after game," said Bruce. "The X-rays and report showed nothing was damaged. He then went to have a CT scan, which came back as nothing except for a badly bruised bone.

"He then tried to train two or three times, but things were not getting better. It was pretty obvious he couldn't train, so we scanned his leg again and detected a stress fracture in his left fibula. The medical staff tell me a stress fracture can appear ten days to three weeks after the injury occurs.

"It's obviously a blow, but it just really sums up what's been happening since January. In the last few months, it's been one thing after another."

Like Richardson, Meyler will also not be involved in the final three games of the season.

Instead, the Irish midfielder, who returned from a six-month absence in December, only to suffer a recurrence of his knee injury at Aston Villa on January 5, will travel to the United States to conduct a month-long rehabilitation programme with a leading knee specialist.

"David's going to America to see a specialist and do some conditioning work," confirmed Bruce. "It's a programme that's been tailored specifically to him.

"It's strengthening work rather than an operation or anything like that, and it's a big time for him to try to make some progress with his problem."

The mounting injury problems have contributed to Sunderland's worst run of the season, with the Black Cats winning just one of their last 11 matches as they have tumbed to 14th position in the table.

Bruce's position as manager has been called into question as a result, but while he understands the fans' frustration, the North-Easterner insists no club could have coped with the absence of up to a dozen senior players.

"It (the criticism) doesn't surprise me because I always knew how difficult it would be to be a manager up here," he said. "When you have five different phone-ins every night, then you know what's going to be coming.

"People have been saying, ‘Off with the manager's head', but I think I'm experienced enough to know what being a manager's all about.

"One week I'm the best thing since sliced toast - the next I'm incompetent. But I don't think any club could have coped with what's happened. We haven't been able to cope, but I still maintain we have the nucleus of a decent squad."