Jones told to rush home

Steve Bruce ordered striker Kenwyne Jones to get the earliest flight back from World Cup duty with Trinidad & Tobago to face Liverpool.

The Black Cats boss told the in-form striker he must get back to the north east as quickly as possible if he is to be included in Bruce's plans for the Reds' visit to the Stadium of Light.

"Kenwyne will be getting the earlier flight back," said Bruce. "I told him that he can't play on Saturday if he doesn't. He will fly back through the night and get into London tomorrow morning, so he's still got to get back up to the north east from there.

"But the earlier flight gets him back over here 12 hours earlier, which at least gives him more chance to recover. I'll have to see how he is when he gets back."

Jones played for just the final 15 minutes of Trinidad & Tobago's 2-2 draw with Mexico but Bruce is more concerned with the travelling than the amount of time the forward spent on the pitch for his country.

He added: "It doesn't matter whether you've played in a game, played the full 90 minutes or not - if you get straight off a plane from Trinidad then you are not going to be in the best of shape."

Jones was left out of the Black Cats' starting eleven last month for their tie with Hull City after returning from international duty the evening before the match.