Benjani will step in for injured Jones
Kenwyne Jones could be sidelined for at least a month and miss half a dozen games after limping off at half-time yesterday with a muscle strain.
But manager Steve Bruce will resist any temptation to recall Martyn Waghorn from his loan spell at Leicester City and will instead hand Benjani his opportunity to shine alongside top scorer Darren Bent.
Jones' absence means Sunderland are down to just three strikers – Bent, Benjani and Fraizer Campbell – with Martyn Waghorn, David Healy and Daryl Murphy all out on loan.
But the return of Jordan Henderson could not have been more timely for Bruce, who can now play the 20-year-old on the right-wing and keep Campbell in reserve.
Benjani, on-loan from Manchester City, played no part in yesterday's 1-1 draw against his full-time employers.
But he will relish the opportunity to impress after being left in the slipstream of the Trinidad & Tobago striker, who has enjoyed a purple patch of form in the last few weeks.
Jones put his side ahead in the eighth minute of yesterday's game with his eighth goal of the season but failed to reappear after the half-time break.
And Bruce, who explained the powerful front-man had pulled a muscle reaching for a shot, said the striker is likely to be out for some time.
"It looks like it could be a month," said the manager. "And that's a massive blow for us because over the last month he has played ever so well.
"Losing him at half-time was probably the defining moment of the game yesterday. It really knocked us. The second half became a bit of a struggle as a result, because we lost our focal point.
"But it is probably the story of our whole season – just as we seem to be making progress, we lose one of our key players."
Bruce said hopes that Lee Cattermole could play against City, had plunged by Saturday.
"It's up and down with Lee at the moment," he said. "One day he's training and feeling fine, the next day it's the opposite and to be honest, after Saturday we knew he was nowhere near for the game.
"Kenwyne has a groin strain, or a thigh strain, depending on how you look at it. Either way, it's a muscle strain and with something like that you're looking at quite a few weeks."
If Jones is out for just over a month, he will miss matches against Birmingham City, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Spurs, West Ham and Burnley.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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