Cisse buoyed after friendly goals

Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse stepped up his claims for a regular starting place by scoring twice in a 3-0 friendly win against German side Bayer Leverkusen.

The 23-year-old spent much of last season recovering from a broken leg, but returned to action towards the end of the campaign.

With Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez understood to be interested in Southampton’s Peter Crouch, Cisse responded during the friendly in Austria.

The France striker’s first came after 25 minutes with a fierce finish after good work from Anthony Le Tallec.

Cisse’s second came within a minute when Le Tallec opened the opposition defence up again.

Milan Baros added the third shortly after the break, beating the offside trap to race through and lob the goalkeeper with a cool finish.

Liverpool held on to win, adding to their two wins against Klaus Augenthaler’s side in last season’s Champions League, although they lost Stephen Warnock to injury.