Sunderland manager Steve Bruce lauded Ahmed Elmohamady for the second time in less than a week, stressing that working with Amr Zaki and Mido helped him deal with the Egypt wing-back. "I had Zaki and Mido and that was an experience, but you can't target everyone the same. And he's absolutely chalk and cheese. In fact, he's a delight," he said. "He's such a dedicated kid, I hope he keeps his feet on the ground. I give him every chance that he will. All he wants to do is play. It's quite refreshing. "I saw him in Egypt play for his club and for Egypt on a heap of a pitch two-and-a-half years ago. We nearly brought him here last year but we fell out with the agent." Bruce had Egyptian duo Zaki and Mido at his disposal in the 2008-2009 season when he was in charge of Wigan Athletic. But both strikers were a bit of a disappointment to the former Manchester United man.
Bruce Zaki, who's now plying his trade at Zamalek, moved to the JJB Stadium from the Cairo side on a year-long loan and produced a host of impressive displays in the first half of the season. However, he suffered a sudden dip in form in the winter and fell out with Bruce for repeatedly failing to report back on time from international duty. Mido, who joined the Latics from Middlesbrough in the winter of 2009, barely delivered the goods over the six months he spent under Bruce's guidance. The Ajax striker converted a penalty kick during a 1-1 draw with Liverpool in January 2008, before scoring his last goal for Wigan against Arsenal nearly six weeks later. Sunderland's Egyptian loanee Elmohamady is increasingly winning his manager's confidence since joining from ENPPI in the summer. He started every Premier League game so far for the Black Cats, who are currently 11th of the table.
