Rodgers Confirms Fresh Blow As Sturridge Faces Month Out With Calf Injury

Liverpool have been hit by a fresh injury blow after Brendan Rodgers confirmed striker Daniel Sturridge is facing up to a month out with a calf problem.

The Reds hitman has only just returned to full training last week after six weeks on the sidelines with a thigh injury he suffered in training while away with the England squad at the start of September.

Sturridge has been looking sharp in training these past few days and was pencilled in to make his comeback against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road on Sunday afternoon.

However, speaking at his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon, Rodgers confessed to reporters that the 25-year-old had suffered a set back in training on Thursday afternoon after pulling up with a calf injury.

The Merseysiders sent the striker for further assessment and scans have now revealed the true extent of the problem, with Rodgers revealing that Sturridge will now be out for a further two to four weeks.

“Daniel has pulled his calf,” Rodgers told the Liverpool ECHO.

“He’s looking at being out for another two to four weeks.

“It’s a big blow as we were looking forward to welcoming Daniel back. He has worked tirelessly.

“But we have other players training hard and working hard and we will turn to them. It’s why we bulked up the squad in the summer.”

If the England striker is out for the full four weeks it means he’ll miss a further seven matches including Liverpool’s crucial Champions League double-header against Real Madrid as well as the visit of Chelsea to Anfield on November 8.

The news obviously comes as a major blow to Liverpool as they’ve solely missed Sturridge over the past six weeks, with neither Mario Balotelli or Rickie Lambert scoring a single Premier League goal between them during his absence.

Sturridge bagged 21 league goals last season and the Reds just haven’t looked as much of a threat without him, and they’ve only won three of the seven games he’s missed over the last six weeks, so he’s certainly going to be a huge miss.

There is some positive news for Liverpool though as Dejan Lovren has recovered from an abdominal strain that he picked up while away with Croatia and is expected to start on Sunday.

Midfielders Joe Allen and Emre Can are also back in contention after six week lay-offs while Mamadou Sakho will return to full training on Monday.