STEVE Bruce has told Liverpool to ‘put up or shut up’ in their pursuit of Kenwyne Jones.

Jones will be in Liverpool this evening as the Black Cats take on Everton in the Premier League, but it is the question of whether the Trinidadian establishes a permanent base in the city that has dominated discussions on Wearside in the last week.

Sunday night’s conversation between Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn and Liverpool managing director Christian Purslow drew a line under the weekend trading of insults. But it did little to quash the continued speculation linking Jones with a £15m move to Anfield.

That speculation intensified on Saturday, as Jones produced a listless and disinterested display during Sunderland’s 2-1 defeat at Portsmouth.

Bruce admits the Trinidadian has been affected by this month’s events, and has urged Liverpool to make their intentions clear.

“The notion that I would let him go out on loan, let’s be fair, is ludicrous,” said Bruce.

“But what I have said to him, like I have said to anybody in the squad, is if Liverpool are going to be deadly serious and offer us the sort of money that he is worth… “I’ve never been in any doubt that I don’t want to sell him. But I never wanted to sell Emile Heskey last Christmas, I never wanted to sell (Wilson) Palacios to Tottenham, or (Luis Antonio) Valencia to Man United. However, I’ve been in it long enough to understand if the money’s there and it’s right, who knows?

“But I hope now it is finished, it is put to bed. So the one thing I have to do is get Kenwyne pointed in the right direction and playing the way we know he can for Sunderland.

Because if Saturday was anything to go by, this has certainly affected him in a way that, you know, unfortunately he was no use.”

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez remains keen to secure Jones’ services this month, but there are two major impediments.

The first is Liverpool’s financial situation, with the Anfield club not possessing the funds required to match Sunderland’s asking price.

To further complicate matters, Sunderland would not sanction Jones’ departure unless they already had an attacking replacement in place.

As things stand, Jones is likely to remain on Sunderland’s books until the summer “He’s obviously hearing different stories and he’s maybe questioning me,” said the Sunderland boss. “But I’ve tried to be as open as I possibly can with the boy.

“We have to get him back to the level he’s capable of. If we do, we know Sunderland are a far better team than what we’re witnessing with Kenwyne at the moment.

“If his head’s been turned, if he doesn’t want to be here, I don’t know. All I know is we pay him very well, he’s a big hero with the supporters, and we have to get him turned around and focused on what he’s good at, which is being a good centre-forward.”

Jones’ mental state is far from Bruce’s only concern ahead of this evening’s trip to Goodison Park, as Michael Turner and Phil Bardsley have both sustained injuries that will keep them out of action for at least a fortnight.

As a result, Matt Kilgallon is expected to make his debut less than a week after completing a £2m move from Sheffield United. Lee Cattermole will also return to the starting line-up.

SUNDERLAND (probable, 4-4-2): Gordon; Nosworthy, Da Silva, Kilgallon, McCartney; Henderson, Cana, Cattermole, Reid; Jones, Bent.