Miller pleased to get off the mark

Sunderland midfielder Liam Miller was a relieved man after finally opening his Barclays Premier League account.

The 26-year-old Corkman had a spell at Manchester United earlier in his career, but had to wait until Saturday to claim his first top-flight goal.

Miller's 89th-minute strike was enough to secure a hard-fought point for his side at the home of derby rivals Middlesbrough just when the Teessiders thought they had wrapped up all three.

He said: ‘It's been a long wait. I was hoping my first goal would have come sooner, but that's the way these things work out.

‘I have caught a few sweet in my time, and luckily I saved another nice one for Saturday. That was probably up there with the best of them.’

Miller's strike was just his third for the club after he scored at Leeds within weeks of his arrival from Celtic at the beginning of last season, and then claimed a last-gasp winner at Derby County in February.

It came in the nick of time for Roy Keane's men, who have made something of a habit of scoring late since their return to the Premier League.

Miller has appeared in all eight of Sunderland's games so far this season, but has started just two, although that is a situation which could change this weekend.

Dickson Etuhu, a £1.5million summer signing from Norwich, collected his fifth booking of the campaign at the Riverside Stadium and will sit out Saturday's visit of Blackburn Rovers to the Stadium of Light.