Luque Struggling With Premiership

The look on the face of the United boss when his Spanish international signing blasted the ball into Row ZZ at Goodison Park from a freekick, just about said it all. I thought Souness was going to hop outside and get the No 14 bus back to Lime Street.

Albert Luque, once again, fell down like a pack of cards when touched and (just like Hugo Viana) showed quite plainly he would rather not be around when the studs are flying. Perhaps the sooner he comes to terms with the fact English fans don't applaud a player when he tumbles to the ground and rolls 15yds, like they do in Spain.

However, Souness said: 'We have no worries about Albert. He will do fine for us. He is not the box-to-box player Luis Boa Morte is, but he has the class to do well. And people should not forget that when he went on as a substitute at Goodison Park on Sunday it was after he had been on the sidelines for three months.'

Assistant manager Alan Murray: 'Albert hasn't played much Premiership football and when we speak to him during the week he says he finds our training and the pace of the game fairly intense. But the more chances he has of playing the better he will get.'