Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish is ready to throw in Craig Bellamy against former club Manchester City today.

The manager himself is quick to commend the application Bellamy has shown the second time around.

"He's a brilliant professional," Dalglish says. "He's made a huge contribution on and off the pitch here and I'm delighted with him. What he did elsewhere I don't know, I'm not really interested, but what I do know is that at 17 years of age at Norwich he spent most of his wages putting weights in a garage somewhere to try and build himself up.

"He had worked out he needed to strengthen himself so he set about doing it. He's still very determined, but with age and maturity there's a bit more understanding now about his profession and also about himself."