Liverpool Team News Update: Rodgers Gives Latest On Gerrard, Allen, Sakho & More

Liverpool entertain Hull City at Anfield on New Years Day looking to get their Premier League title push back on track.

Ahead of the game, Brendan Rodgers has given Liverpoolfc.com the latest team news with an update on the fitness of Steven Gerrard, Joe Allen, Jordan Henderson and Mamadou Sakho.

The good news is that Gerrard could return after recovering from a hamstring injury that the skipper picked up back on December 7th. The midfielder is back in training and will be assessed ahead of the game on Wednesday.

Sunday’s defeat at Stamford Bridge saw a number of Liverpool players pick up injuries and Rodgers confirmed that midfielder Allen will be out for a ‘few weeks’ with an abductor strain.

Defender Sakho is likely to be out for a number of weeks with a hamstring problem but Rodgers is confident Henderson will be available to face Hull despite picking up a minor knock at the weekend. He told the clubs official website:

“Joe will probably be a few weeks with an abductor strain. Sakho, we’re just waiting for confirmation on his hamstring strain. Glen Johnson came off [at Chelsea], but that was tactical and wasn’t injury enforced.

“There were one or two other niggles that we’ll just assess in the next 24 hours.

“Steven has joined back in training, so we’ll see how he is for Hull, and I would think that probably by the Stoke game [January 12] we’ll have a number of the others who’ll not be too far away.

“But certainly for the Hull game we’ll have to rely on more or less what we had.

“Jordan Henderson is fine. He’s on his first day of recovery today. He’s still sore, but he’s a real solider and should be fine.”

Liverpool already have a growing injury list that includes the likes of Daniel Sturridge, Jose Enrique and Jon Flanagan as well as Gerrard, and Rodgers feels the club have simply been unlucky. He added:

“It’s just been unfortunate. The medical team aligned with our training philosophy have meant the players have been fit for the majority of the time I’ve been here.

“It’s just really in this last period of four or five weeks, which have unfortunately dealt us a big blow in the squad.”

The Reds have slumped to successive 2-1 defeats to Man City and Chelsea this past week so the Merseysiders will hope to start 2014 with a win against the Tigers.

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