Sunderland manager Steve Bruce disappointed by Titus Bramble's conduct

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce believes footballers should show more responsibility off the pitch.

Bruce was speaking in the week the club suspended defender Titus Bramble while police investigate allegations of sexual assault and possession of a Class A drug.

Legal restrictions limited what Bruce could talk about.

But he said: "In Titus's case there is an investigation - but I don't think he should be in that position anyway."

Bramble, 30, was questioned a day after Sunderland's 2-1 defeat at Norwich and will miss Saturday's home game against West Brom.

And Bruce added: "I don't think you should be in a nightclub on a Tuesday night. I don't think any footballer should be in a nightclub on a Monday night, Tuesday night or Wednesday night - not with a game on a Saturday, especially after the way you have just been beaten on the Monday night.

"In my day, the vast majority of people I played with would have put their head down, gone into the bunker and said, 'Well, I am going to go and train hard and put it right on Saturday'.

"But that's where, unfortunately, they let themselves down."

The Sunderland manager also thinks players are distancing themselves from their working-class backgrounds.

He added: "Unfortunately, with the rewards they get, they alienate themselves and should show more responsibility.

"They have all got one thing in common - they usually come from the same working-class background, the vast majority anyway, there is the odd exception.

"Usually, most of them will remember the roots from which they are born and bred and have that respect for where they come from and the people who are still there.

"Unfortunately, with the rewards they get, they alienate themselves and should show more responsibility."