Sunderland suffered a blow early in their Premiership clash at Liverpool as winger Kieran Richardson had to be replaced due to recurrence of his hamstring problem.

The former Manchester United player had started at Anfield after having missed the last two games for the Black Cats. However, manager Roy Keane had to take the 23-year-old England international off and sent on new signing Rade Prica in the 7th minute.

Richardson had had powered the Black Cats to a 2-0 victory over Portsmouth, scoring both goals in his last appearance on January 13.