After about a week and a half of Steve Bruce telling everyone that no decision would be taken on the Dutchman until after the Liverpool game, of course he signs the day before.

At 33, Zenden is obviously not a long-term signing, and while he won't be coming to Wearside for a small salary – to me, he still represents good value for money.

He may not be a spring chicken, but a deal until the end of the season, with the possibility of a further year looks a good move for all concerned.

Zenden obviously knows the Premier League and he will also know all about playing alongside Lorik Cana from their time together at Marseille.

It will be interesting to see if the former Liverpool man makes the bench for the Reds's visit tomorrow.

Hopefully, Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard won't make it on to the team bus, never mind the bench, with both players reportedly struggling with injuries.

Of course, Liverpool still have a number of top players to call on, even without their deadly duo, but their omission would be a big boost.

When Torres and Gerrard are on their game, they are the driving force behind everything that is good about Rafa Benitez's side. Let's hope that without them the Reds a are shadow of what they can be.

Talk in the national media will no doubt be about whether or not the Black Cats can end Rafa's men's challenge for the title tomorrow. Apart from the Liverpool fans and the headline writers, who cares?

More important for us is putting in a good performance, and hopefully getting something from the game.

Not so long ago that would have seemed a big ask (maybe it still is), but we proved against Manchester United that we can cause top teams problems.

Now we have to show that we can do that consistently, and who knows, maybe this time we can avoid any last-gasp own goal misery.

Even the passing of time (it's been almost two weeks) has done little to ease the sense of loss I felt at Old Trafford as those three points faded into just one – a little dramatic maybe, but you get my meaning.