Liverpool Injury News: Rodgers Offers Update On Trio Ahead Of FA Cup Semi Final

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has given an update on the fitness of Daniel Sturridge, Mamadou Sakho and Mario Balotelli ahead of their FA Cup semi final.

Sturridge was left-out of the squad for Monday night’s win over Newcastle United at Anfield after aggravating a hip injury during last Wednesday’s FA Cup victory over Blackburn Rovers.

The striker initially suffered the problem against Man Utd last month but Rodgers is hopeful he’ll be back in contention to face Aston Villa at Wembley on Sunday afternoon.

Balotelli meanwhile has missed the last three games due to injury and a bout of sickness but Rodgers is also confident the Italian international will return to training this week which should put him in the frame to feature against Villa.

Speaking after the win last night, Rodgers told Liverpoolfc.com.

“Daniel Sturridge was injured from the Blackburn game and he just wasn’t right for tonight. It’s his hip, but hopefully he’ll be okay for the weekend.

“I’ll probably know more in the week. He said he feels reasonably fine, so we’re hoping by the middle of the week we’ll have a good indication of where he’s at.”

“He [Balotelli] wasn’t quite fit enough for tonight, so hopefully he’ll train in the middle of the week,”

“He’s had on and off sickness issues.”

It will be a big boost for Liverpool if Sturridge can return to the squad as they have limited options up front without him – especially with Balotelli also struggling for form and fitness.

Raheem Sterling played through the middle against Newcastle and got himself on the scoresheet with a fine goal, but the youngster was also guilty of missing some guilt-edge chances so I’m sure Rodgers would like to be able to call on Sturridge for Sunday’s crucial FA Cup clash.

However, one man who’s certain to miss out at Wembley this coming weekend is Mamadou Sakho after the defender pulled his hamstring against Blackburn last week.

Reports in the newspapers on Monday claimed the French international has been ruled out for up to four weeks and unfortunately for the Merseysiders, Rodgers confirmed the bad news last night.

When asked how long Sakho would be out for, Rodgers told the clubs website:

“Three to four weeks, probably.”

This is a huge blow for Liverpool as Sakho has been in excellent form lately but he’s now set to miss the FA Cup semi final against Villa as well as key league games against West Brom, Hull and QPR while he’ll be facing a race against time to face Chelsea on May 10th.

Liverpool back up to fifth with last night’s 2-0 victory over Newcastle and are now just four points off fourth-placed Manchester City with six games remaining, so they are still well in the hunt to secure Champions League football next year.