SOCCER:Manchester City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson heaped praise on central defender Richard Dunne following his man-of-the-match performance against Liverpool yesterday.

The City skipper turned in an awesome display, subduing the considerable threat of Fernando Torres in a way few have managed this season.

Dunne also managed to hack off the line when Joe Hart saved Dirk Kuyt's late effort before sliding in to block Yossi Benayoun's goal-bound strike, the last real chance Liverpool had.

"I don't know if it was Richard's best performance for Manchester City but it was an extremely good one," said Eriksson. "He is a good player and our captain and he showed the way forward."

Dunne marshalled City towards a point which keeps them just one adrift of Liverpool in the battle for fourth, while leaving the Merseysiders 10 behind new leaders Arsenal.

"He is a very important member of our dressing-room," he added. "He has been here for a long time and it is good to have someone like that around the club. Not only is he a good footballer, he is a very sensible person, which is what you require from a captain."

Dunne hailed Manchester City's defensive display. "It was difficult," he said. "Liverpool have had criticism from people saying their form hasn't been great, but they showed today how good they are. Luckily we've worked hard at defending recently and it paid off today.

"Everyone stood up and showed our fitness levels. We knew how they played, we watched videos. We had to make sure we stayed tight, and when we did there was always someone covering - it worked really well."

Eriksson has confirmed their new arrival, Mexico forward Nery Castillo, will not be available for Wednesday's trip to Newcastle. Castillo has signed a 12-month loan from Shakhtar Donetsk but cannot feature until next weekend's FA Cup tie at West Ham.

Rafael Benitez is ready to plunge into the transfer market in an attempt to solve Liverpool's central-defensive crisis. Benitez has been linked with Fiorentina's Czech Republic international Tomas Ujfalusi, as well as AC Milan's Kakha Kaladze and Racing Santander's €10.8 million-rated Ezequiel Garay.

"We are working to try to find some solutions and we are close to getting some players," he said.