PAINKILLING INJECTION FOR GERRARD

GERRARD: In action against Manchester City

By Chris Bascombe, 21/11/2009

STEVEN GERRARD has had a second painkilling injection to ensure he leads from the front as Liverpool begin another pivotal week.

The Kop skipper returned to the starting line-up for yesterday's Premier League clash with Manchester City after recovering from a groin injury.

Now he's hoping to inspire a Champions League revival against Debrecen on Tuesday.

There were fears the 30-year-old would need an operation to cure any lingering pain.

But another cortisone injection in midweek should prevent the need for surgery.

Gerrard has been desperate to help get Liverpool's season back on track. An operation would only rule him out for three weeks, but with so many important games coming up he knows his club needs him.

"It's been a frustrating few weeks," admitted Gerrard.

"It's been a strange month because as soon as I was fit we had the international break.

"I've been dying to play and can't wait to get going again.

"The mood in the camp is really good. We know our position in the table isn't good enough but we have faith in our ability. We know we can put things right."

While Gerrard's return is a much needed fillip, Fernando Torres remains a worry. Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez faces an anxious wait to see if the Spanish ace will be ready for next weekend's Merseyside derby.

But Alberto Aquilani is in line to take a giant stride in his much-delayed Anfield career with a first start in Hungary.

Shadow

Meanwhile, Javier Mascherano's hopes of forcing a January move to Barcelona will end in frustration.

Benitez will not allow further disruption to his squad given the problems this season.

Mascherano has been a shadow of his former self since a £30million deal fell through last summer.

Liverpool will review his future at the end of the season. Until then the Argentine is under orders to forget about a switch to the Nou Camp.

Your comments

This article has 4 comments

um sick and tired of banitez.this guy should go.all his tactics are useless.why on earth does he keep playing lucas when he has 20million aquilani on the bench.beny wasnt fully fit but got the node.kuyt is not good enough fo me.um just furious

By iwe.. Posted November 22 2009 at 5:57 PM.

this was very bad, all the false dawns, Rafa slowly going round the bend, ruffling his notes, his zonal fiasco, his playing 4 5 1 at home would have Shanks and co turning in their collective graves. What have we to do to get rid of this incompetant, arrogant, stubborn man who witnesses more disasterous permutations crumble every week. Other teams have injuries, other teams cope, we don't have divine right to be made a special,case. Benitez picks the team, he chooses to turn Babel into a nonentity and play him, Kuyt, Gerrard out of position. It is all down to the manager and when I am in the majority instead of these 'loyal' muppetts on the Kop who think it is all about a battle of the Yanks v the Manager we will continue to fail.......

By stevie.. Posted November 22 2009 at 12:08 PM.

Hey Boon,

If you want your views to be taken seriously, you'd be better off not commenting on Babel's performance in a match where he played less than 20 minutes.

Oh and his name was Arbeloa.

By Jon.. Posted November 22 2009 at 9:15 AM.

Pool played badly yesterday, yet again. SG could notlift the team. I saw that the ManCity team can go in to score. Ireland made space and scored, Lucas made space and fluffed it, yet again. Masch never dared go intot he box. Yossi hardly went in if not for the goal which was dflected into his path. Skrtel's defending is poor and poor Carra when we needed him in the centre was dragged to the lft to handle Bell. Kuyt was woeful, Babel as usual cannot make space. I will single out Insua as the worst. If you watched him carefully he was not been doing a good job recently. All these bear the fact we lost Alonso and Abelaour as the wrong time.. YNWA. The seaon is probbaly gone. Only hope toregain some pride by staying within the top 4!

By Boon.. Posted November 22 2009 at 2:54 AM.

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