Never mind Kenny Dalglish, the week's greatest sympathy should go to Newcastle's Shay Given, who must wonder what he's done to deserve playing behind a defence of that calibre. The only consolation he (and his team-mates) can take from yesterday's drubbing by Liverpool is that they only have to face Michael Owen once more in the league this season. A frustrating weekend too for Mark Kennedy, who is finding the job of securing a first-team place at Wimbledon no less difficult than it was during his three-year spell at Liverpool. Once again he was left on the bench for the team's home game against Leeds on Saturday and so far has played just six minutes of first-team football this season. Wimbledon's Irish striker Jon Goodman, meanwhile, made a successful comeback following knee surgery for the club's reserves last week and is expected to be back in the first-team squad soon.

Elsewhere, Damien Duff made his first start of the season for Blackburn, in their 1-0 win at home to Leicester, while Gary Breen was singled out for praise by Gordon Strachan after his performance for Coventry in their 0-0 draw against West Ham.

In the first division, Alan McLoughlin won a point for Portsmouth with a last minute penalty in a 3-3 draw at Huddersfield, his third goal in six games, while Stockport's Chris Byrne also helped his club to a draw with an equaliser against Crystal Palace. Three Irish players made their first appearances of the season on Saturday - Liam O'Brien for Tranmere Rovers against Bristol City; Robbie Ryan for Millwall against Macclesfield and Paul Armstrong, who played for Brighton in their 2-0 win against Torquay. And in France, Tony Cascarino scored his second goal in four games when he gave Nancy a surprise lead, after just eight minutes, away to Lens, but the defending league champions recovered to win the game 2-1.