Ghana Captain John Mensah has received a public dressing down from Sunderland’s coach Steve Bruce for his reaction after he was substituted in the 3-1 home defeat to Wolverhampton on Saturday

Sunderland coach Steve Bruce was disappointed by the actions of Ghana defender John Mensah after showing his frustration when he was substituted by heading straight down the tunnel.

“Mensah is a highly-respectable player but in his actions today, he has let himself down” Bruce was quoted as saying on Skysports.com.

The 28-year old defender has been on loan with the Black Cats from Ligue 1 outfit Lyon since 2009.

The former Genoa, Rennes and Lyon centre back failed to meet Bruce’s expectations in the second-half and consequently had to substitute him.

"Things like that happen in football. He's got a good right to be disappointed - I was disappointed in his second-half performance,” Bruce added.

"Things happen in the heat of the game. He is understandably upset, he didn't want to come off - we will deal with that and we will live with that and we will move on”.

"He was just thinking one thing, total disappointment in himself, which happens in the heat of the moment,” the Black Cats coach concluded his comments over Mensah’s behaviour.