Hannover clash proves a headache for Sunderland

Does a fairytale season beckon for Sunderland and Steve Bruce's £30million signings? Or will it be Grim?

On the outskirts of the German town of Hameln, where a statue of the Pied Piper stands, the most loyal followers came from Wearside to see if the tune Bruce's side will be playing come August will be as alluring as in the old local fable.

Nine signings - the most business done by any top-flight team.

A fresh start for reinvigorated Bruce after a top 10 finish, only the third in 50 years, last season.

But a 3-1 loss to Hannover 96 showed work is still to be done before kickoff against Liverpool.

This was Sunderland's second match of their German boot-camp tour.

Defensive mistakes helped the home side to a two-goal lead thanks to Mohammed Abdellaoue and Jan Schlaudraff, but the lively Stephane Sessegnon pegged one back in a second half which, despite their physical fatigue, saw a more effective Sunderland performance.

Bruce's men were finished off in the 83rd minute by slack marking which allowed Erdal Akdari to take the wind out of their improvement.

The Sunderland boss will see this result in context of a gruelling week.

He has been putting his squad through some intensive training since the weekend at their training base, which is often used by the German national side.

This test against Hannover - who finished fourth in the Bundesliga last season and fielded former Middlesbrough defender Emanuel Pogatetz at centre-back - was a stern one, given the Germans are two weeks ahead of them in their pre-season routine.

Add that Sunderland's players were put through more than two hours of tough physical training yesterday and that Hannover had scored more than 40 goals in their first TWO pre-season games, and it gives an idea of the task they faced.

Pre-season games can often be more about getting in the hard yards and developing sharpness, so they deserve to be cut some slack for a defeat.

The bright spot was a much more accomplished second half display and a second goal in two games from Sessegnon, nicknamed "Diddy Drogba" in training by Bruce this week.

The Benin star, signed from Paris St Germain in January, is finding his feet at last and Bruce wants him scoring regularly from a strike position when the season starts.

He intercepted a poor defensive pass 35 yards out and raced clear on goal. His first shot was blocked by the keeper but the rebound looped in of his shin.

That put a better gloss on the game, in which Sunderland finished strongly.

But they will have to cut out the sort of lapses caused a two-goal deficit in a nightmare few minutes as half-time approached.

First, a long ball from Karim Haggui sailed through the middle for Mohamed Abdellqoue to round stranded keeper Simon Mignolet.

Centre-backs Anton Ferdinand and Louis Laing, the England Under-19s star who is a huge emerging talent, won't have been happy with their roles.

Mignolet, who looks like being Bruce's No2 keeper behind Keiron Westwood in the new season, could have done better for both Hannover's first half strikes.

The second came after 38 minutes when Jan Schlaudraff fired off a shot from 18 yards out.

The Belgian got a weak hand to the ball, and it trickled over the line.

Westwood is being held back because of a shoulder injury, but on this evidence will oust Mignolet and Craig Gordon come the first game against Liverpool.

The interest last night was in how South Korean new boy Ji-Dong Won did leading the line in the first half, how £5m signing Craig Gardner would shape up as play-maker and potential goal-getter in central midfield and whether Sessegnon, after a seven-month bedding in period, looks like becoming the striker Bruce hopes he can be.

Goal-scorer Sessegnon was the pick. He bustled about, winning the odd header and drawing fouls, while Gardner was neat and tidy, delivering a decent ball.

During the first half, Kieron Richardson forced a save from Ron Zieler in the Hannover goal, but at the other end Pogatetz headed just wide after pulling away from Ferdinand at a corner.

After the break, Sunderland came close to a leveller when Ahmed Elmohamady had a header cleared off the line.

Sub Seb Larsson, who made an impact when he came on after an hour, fired just wide.

Lee Cattermole also added bite when added to the mix with half an hour to go.