STEVEN GERRARD handed Liverpool a fresh injury scare today when he limped out of an England training session after just 10 minutes.
The Reds skipper, who came off at half-time in Ukraine with a groin strain, has been receiving treatment all week but was rated an outside chance of being fit for tomorrow night's final qualifiying game against Belarus.
He left the training pitch today, however, after barely 10 minutes, accompanied by England head physio Gary Lewin.
It now seems highly unlikely that he will feature tomorrow and his club boss, Rafa Benitez, will be anxiously awaiting an update from the England fitness staff.
With Javier Mascherano and Lucas both not expected back from international duty until Friday, and Alberto Aquilani still a little way of match fitness, the Reds' midfield options would be severely limited should Gerrard be ruled out of the weekend trip to Sunderland.
by liverpoolecho.co.uk
The Oppo: Benitez reflects
Rafa Benitez refused to use Darren Bent's 'freak' goal as an excuse after seeing his team slump to their third straight defeat
Reacting to his team's 1-0 defeat to Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, Rafa Benitez refused to dwell on the circumstances surrounding Darren Bent's winner.
Bent scored the only goal after just six minutes when his shot struck an inflatable ball thrown on the pitch by a fan, deflecting the shot past a wrong-footed Pepe Reina.
Benitez told liverpoolfc.tv: "It was a special situation but we didn't play well. The goal changed the game but we didn't play well, made some mistakes and gave the ball away.
"After this they played well on the counter-attack. They had some chances and when we had our chances we didn't take them.
"These things can happen in a lot of games. It's a bad situation for us that the [inflatable] ball was in the middle and was influential but again I will say we didn't play well - that's the main thing for me.
"We had some players who we knew could be a little bit tired, and then conceding after four minutes it was even more difficult. We have to do better if we want to win these kind of games."
When questioned about the goal, Benitez quipped: "It's a very technical question but it could be because it could have been a goal anyway."
Liverpool now trail leaders Manchester United by seven points but Benitez remains upbeat about his side's prospects.
He said: "In a normal season teams at the top would be winning every game and it would be a long distance to the top now but Chelsea have lost two games and I think we'll see a lot of top teams lose games.
"Losing four games is bad but crucial? That depends on the next few games. If we can win two or three games in a row we can be at the top of the table."
The Oppo: Benitez reflects
Rafa Benitez refused to use Darren Bent's 'freak' goal as an excuse after seeing his team slump to their third straight defeat
Reacting to his team's 1-0 defeat to Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, Rafa Benitez refused to dwell on the circumstances surrounding Darren Bent's winner.
Bent scored the only goal after just six minutes when his shot struck an inflatable ball thrown on the pitch by a fan, deflecting the shot past a wrong-footed Pepe Reina.
Benitez told liverpoolfc.tv: "It was a special situation but we didn't play well. The goal changed the game but we didn't play well, made some mistakes and gave the ball away.
"After this they played well on the counter-attack. They had some chances and when we had our chances we didn't take them.
"These things can happen in a lot of games. It's a bad situation for us that the [inflatable] ball was in the middle and was influential but again I will say we didn't play well - that's the main thing for me.
"We had some players who we knew could be a little bit tired, and then conceding after four minutes it was even more difficult. We have to do better if we want to win these kind of games."
When questioned about the goal, Benitez quipped: "It's a very technical question but it could be because it could have been a goal anyway."
Liverpool now trail leaders Manchester United by seven points but Benitez remains upbeat about his side's prospects.
He said: "In a normal season teams at the top would be winning every game and it would be a long distance to the top now but Chelsea have lost two games and I think we'll see a lot of top teams lose games.
"Losing four games is bad but crucial? That depends on the next few games. If we can win two or three games in a row we can be at the top of the table."
by safc.com
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