SUNDERLAND manager Roy Keane displayed his ruthless streak once again yesterday when he placed midfielder Liam Miller on the transfer list.

Miller, who has been struggling with a calf injury for the majority of the last month, is understood to have expressed a reluctance to play in last night's reserves game with Bolton.

And having previously told the likes of Ross Wallace and David Connolly they no longer had a future with the Black Cats, Keane's response was to tell the Republic of Ireland international to look for new employers himself ahead of a permanent move away from Wearside in the summer.

Miller is also believed to have annoyed his manager by turning up late for training on more than one occasion but, with the transfer window currently closed, his only hope of leaving the Stadium of Light ahead of May is to secure an emergency loan move to a club in the Football League.

The 27-year-old, who has made 52 senior appearances for the Black Cats, was one of six men Keane signed on August transfer-deadline day in 2006.

Four other members of that sextet - Wallace, Connolly, Graham Kavanagh and Stanislav Varga have already been transfer listed - while 36-year-old Dwight Yorke is unlikely to receive a new contract when his current deal expires in the summer.

Greg Halford and Ian Harte have also been told to seek new employers, while full-back Stephen Wright, a survivor of the Peter Reid era, is also available and Andrew Cole is set to see out the remainder of his contract on loan at Burnley.