Benitez hails away form

Rafael Benitez believes Liverpool have finally overcome their travel sickness after a second successive away win in the new Barclays Premier League season.

The Reds won 2-0 at Sunderland on Saturday thanks to first Premier League goals from Mohamed Sissoko and Andriy Voronin.

"It was really good, really important for us," Benitez said of the victory. "The team showed character. We had chances that maybe could have been in before (the second goal) but in this period when everyone was talking about our performances away last season, I think it was really important to win the match."

Benitez praised the display of Sissoko, who replaced injured captain Steven Gerrard.

"It was important to see different player doing the job," the Reds boss added. "It showed how strong our squad is now."

Benitez also revealed key defender Jamie Carragher would have an x-ray on a suspected broken rib.

Opposite number Roy Keane accepted Sunderland were beaten by the better team.

"Not too many complaints today," said Keane, who was furious after last weekend's 3-0 surrender at Wigan.

"We showed some good bits of quality. That was the effort I wanted to see. It's tough when you're playing against teams like Liverpool with the strength in depth they've got.

On possible reinforcements, Keane said: "We are sometimes lacking a little bit of experience. We're maybe short of as striker and defender."