Sunderland’s Carlos Cuellar in the running for City clash

He was replaced at half-time by Titus Bramble who has gone on to do a sterling job in Cuellar’s absence and was expected to continue deputising for a few weeks more to come.

But Cuellar has recovered more quickly than expected – perhaps a benefit of his good sense in drawing the problem to Martin O’Neill’s attention during the half-time break, rather than trying to play on – and is now on the verge of a return.

O’Neill said: “I know Carlos well and I knew that there would have to be a very, very good reason for him not to see a game through.

“He said during the break against Liverpool that he had felt the hamstring tighten throughout the opening 45 minutes and that when he’d sent a header back short to Simon Mignolet, it was because he’d had a problem physically jumping for the ball.”

Tests afterwards confirmed that the 31-year-old had a torn hamstring and he was expected to be out for four to six weeks.

But the recovery has been swifter than first projected and Cuellar could even come into consideration for tomorrow’s game against Manchester City.

O’Neill told the Echo: “He’s back in training and it actually wasn’t beyond the bounds of possibility that he might have been available for the game against Wigan last weekend.

“He trained last Friday but said he just didn’t quite feel 100 per cent, so we left it.

“But he’s had another good week in training and depending upon how these last few training sessions go, he could potentially come into contention for the Man City game.”