November 22 2000

Crystal Palace

Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier has been forced to recall defender Steve Staunton from a loan spell at Crystal Palace to solve an injury crisis at Anfield.

Staunton, 31, goes straight into Liverpool's squad for tonight's(Thurs)UEFA Cup clash against Olympiakos in Athens after Christian

Ziege was ruled out with an achilles injury.

The Republic of Ireland international scored a wonder goal from 45 yards in Palace's 3-2 victory over Tranmere at the weekend and was a key figure in Palace's recent revival after joining last month.

Palace manager Alan Smith was keen to keep him at Selhurst Park but must now look elsewhere for a left-sided player

He said: "We wanted to extend his loan to three months but Steve went up for training with Liverpool on Monday and Gerard has now asked him to go with the squad to play in Greece."