| El-Hadji Diouf, Steed Malbranque, Teemu Tainio and Pascal Chimbonda are set to make their Premier League debuts for Sunderland against Liverpool. Pascal Chimbonda (dead leg), Kieran Richardson (calf), Phil Bardsley (hamstring) and Danny Higginbotham (back) have recovered from injuries and are in contention for the game at the Stadium of Light. Kenwyne Jones, Dwight Yorke and Paul McShane miss out. oy Keane is aiming for a managerial first - to win a point off one of the Barclays Premier League's 'big four' teams. As a Manchester United player, the Irishman enjoyed plenty of success against the big guns as he won seven Premier League titles. But those wins proved more elusive in his first season as a top-flight boss as Sunderland lost every game against the teams that occupied the Champions League positions last season. Keane said: "We didn't get a point against the top sides last season and, of course, we'd like to improve on that - just like we'd like to improve our away form and our defensive record. "Results against the top four won't make or break our season but they would certainly help the cause. We have a great game to start and it would be fantastic to get off the mark. "Last season we managed to have some close games against the top teams and ended up with nothing. "But let's not take our eye off the ball - the priority is always to try to beat the teams down and around you, that's the most important thing.'' Keane is refusing to say where he hopes Sunderland will finish this season, but he is confident they can improve on last season's 15th place finish. The Black Cats have brought in Malbranque, Diouf, Chimbonda and Tainio over the summer and they are all primed to make their debuts. "We finished 15th last year and obviously we want to do better, get nearer the teams ahead of us,'' said Keane. "The players we have signed have proved they can handle the Premier League, we have seen that they are really good players and I'm delighted we've got them, maybe we wouldn't have been able to do it last year. "We lacked quality last season, we came up short in areas and we are hoping that will be different this year. This summer has been about buying quality, not quantity.'' Captain Steven Gerrard will be fit to lead Liverpool. Gerrard was only used for the final 24 minutes of the disappointing Champions League draw against Standard Liege on Wednesday following a thigh injury but will be in the side at the Stadium of Light after training. There are doubts over Xabi Alonso and Yossi Benayoun following minor muscle injuries resulting from the game in Belgium, but Fabio Aurelio and Martin Skrtel are both back in contention. Rafael Benitez has blamed the Liverpool hierarchy for the protracted Gareth Barry transfer saga. The Anfield boss was very clear that he still wants the Aston Villa midfielder and he privately dismissed as unimportant the fact that Barry is now cup-tied for the first phase of the Champions League, having played for Villa in the UEFA Cup this week. But Benitez surprisingly turned the spotlight on chief executive Rick Parry and the club's owner - he specifically only used the singular - to mastermind a way out of the saga that has rumbled on all summer. Benitez said: "I will try to be very clear over the (Barry) situation. Everyone has been talking and it seems that the blame is put on me. "I get blamed for everything, for global warming to high petrol prices. "But in this case I want to be very clear. Since I talked to Martin O'Neill about the situation in April, I have not talked to anyone at Aston Villa. "All the talks have been between our chief executive Rick Parry, the owner and the chief executive of Aston Villa. And those talks have all been pretty good. "So if anyone wants to talk about Barry in the future they must talk with the owner, Rick Parry or the chief executive of Aston Villa. And as I have said, those talks I understand have been good. "I was not involved in the talks about Barry, I was not involved in the talks about (Xabi) Alonso and Arsenal. If you want to talk about these players you must talk to the chief executive of our club who was handling the discussions. "If you want to talk about players, then you talk to Rick Parry. If you want to talk about football, then you talk with me.'' |
發表於 2008-8-17 02:38 AM
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