Bruce: Whitehead could pop to Stoke

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce has revealed there is "still every chance" midfielder Dean Whitehead could move to Premier League rivals Stoke.

Whitehead is expected to leave the Stadium of Light this summer and has been linked with Stoke, who already have four former Black Cats players in Liam Lawrence, Thomas Sorensen, Rory Delap and Danny Higginbotham.

Bruce told the Sunderland Echo: "There's still every chance the move to Stoke City will go through.

"His decision to want to go had nothing to do with me. I think he's just decided he could do with a fresh start and we have to respect that.

"I'm not sure how close that move is as things stand, I'll just leave that up to them."