Cissé hopes for another happy return

Mar 3 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

DJIBRIL Cissé will hope to offer Sunderland a further reminder of his importance to the Black Cats’ cause when he makes his 300th career appearance at Anfield tonight.

Cissé believes his return after an ankle injury in time to play at former club Liverpool is “fate” – but a good performance on a ground where he made 49 appearances is required for altogether more prosaic reasons.

For while Cissé tops the Sunderland scoring charts with 10 goals and has made a vital contribution to the campaign so far, the Black Cats appear to have gone lukewarm on whether to sign him permanently.

Niall Quinn hinted last week that the club may have to re-evaluate the fee they’ve negotiated for Cissé because of the falling value of the pound – and their interest in Darren Bent during the January transfer window hints that the club are considering their striking options.

So Cissé, who may be asked to play as a lone striker at Anfield, could offer a timely reminder of his talent while marking his career milestone.

“It will be a special day for me – my 300th career game at Liverpool. Maybe it’s a sign – it’s funny how football works because if I hadn’t been injured, it would have come at Arsenal. I hope it’s a good sign,” the striker said. “But I am really proud and, by coincidence, it will be in front of the Kop. It is really good and I am very happy. I came back with Marseille last season and it was like I was a Liverpool player, it was amazing.

“I did expect a good reception from the crowd that night but it took my breath away and it will be good to see them again.

“When I went out to warm up, they started clapping and even during the game they were so positive.”

Cissé was famously signed by Roy Keane to import a bit of Premier League know-how and experience into a side that had looked in awe of their top-flight rivals at times last season. That has turned around this campaign, with Cissé of the opinion that the squad boasts enough ability to ambush another top-four side on their own patch.

“We have a chance to win. It’s 11 versus 11; their players have two legs and two arms like our players. We’ll do our best and see what happens – we are looking forward to it.”

Meanwhile, Cissé’s former club believe there will be plenty of interest in the striker if Sunderland don’t take up their option. Marseille chairman Pape Diouf said: “If it’s not Sunderland, other clubs can be interested in Djibril. Speculating at such time of the year would be premature for me.”