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STEVE Bruce believes he has brought in Kenwyne Jones Mark II with the completion of the loan signing of Manchester City striker Benjani.

But the Sunderland manager insists the Zimbabwean international is a player who will complement Jones rather than replace him.

And he says he is much happier with his striking options now as he looks towards ending a poor run of results in the middle third of the season.

Bruce told the Gazette: "You can seen a lot of similarities between the style of Kenwyne and Benjani.

"They're both very tall, very powerfully built front men, who can cause defenders real problems on their day.

"They're both capable of making and creating goals too. But I don't want Benjani to replace Kenwyne.

"I need him to give us another option because we've been a bit light in the striking department.

"Darren Bent has got us a stack load of goals this season, but I think that working off a big man is something he thrives upon, and Kenwyne has been a big help to him in that direction.

"So getting Benjani in means that we still have the option of pairing a big man with Darren if Kenwyne gets suspended or injured.

"It's reassuring for a manager to have competition for places up front and getting Benjani to the club gives us another body to consider, another option.

"He's a player I've admired for a long time, and I think he's going to be an excellent addition to the squad."

Regardless of Benjani's qualities, the Black Cats boss was simply relieved today just to have the player at the Academy of Light at all.

Sunderland had been left sweating yesterday on whether or not the transfer would go through after last-minute technical glitches prevented the paperwork being submitted in time for the Football Association.

But after taking an age to consider all aspects of the case, the authorities allowed it to be rubber-stamped.

And Sunderland today thanked the Premier League and the Football Association for granting the club's appeal.

Sunderland chief executive Steve Walton said: "It has been well documented that we had horrendous problems with our communications network.

"We sent The Premier League and FA documentation showing the issues, which they reviewed and agreed that everything was in order.

"We would like to sincerely thank them for their consideration and we are delighted that we have been able to finalise this deal.

"I'd also like to thank our club secretary and legal director Margaret Byrne, who has been instrumental in helping the club complete its transfer business in the window."

Benjani will now go straight into the squad for Sunderland's key home game against Wigan Athletic this Saturday.

The African striker will not be ring-rusty if he is involved at the weekend, having featured in five games for Manchester City in January.

The Harare-born 31 year-old joins the Black Cats on loan until the end of the season.

He began his senior career at South African side Jomo Cosmos before moving to French Ligue 1 side Auxerre in 2002 following a loan spell with Swiss club Grasshoppers Zürich in 2001.

In January 2006 he arrived in Englanda and the Premier League, completing a £4.1m move to Portsmouth.

A prolific goal-scorer during his time at Fratton Park, the striker attracted the attention of Sven-Goran Eriksson and subsequently joined Manchester City in February 2008 for a fee of £3.75m.