Mensah to play through pain

Sunderland centre-back John Mensah looks set to play through the pain of a shoulder problem to play against West Ham on Sunday.

The Black Cats are suffering defensively with Titus Bramble and Michael Turner both out injured, prompting Mensah to make himself available.

The Ghana defender has already played with the injury but he aggravated it during the defeat at Wolves over the weekend.

Boss Steve Bruce told the club's official website: "John has trained a couple of times this week and took another whack on his bad shoulder on Saturday, but we think he'll be okay.

"He is still out there on the training ground and that's a good thing for us. He just has to deal with the pain in his shoulder.

"I thought John did okay at Wolves considering what he's had. Him making himself available is a testament to the boy."