Injury situation at Liverpool

We lack the squad depth to cope with injuries to several key players at the same time. So it looks like the international break has arrived at the right time to allow some of them to recover.

Agger is back, while Kyrgiakos is out

We've been waiting a long time for Agger to return and it looks like he's finally regaining his fitness after playing in both of Denmarks matches this week. Plus the timing of his return couldn't be better.

Lucas has done well, but Aquilani is coming

Lucas is maturing nicely and has been one of our better performers so far this season. Should he maintain that form, it's inevitable that he'll end up silencing many of his critics. I like him alot, but...

Another international break is over

International breaks are usually long and tedious affairs where we await news of potential injuries to our players. Thankfully this one passed without incident and none of them got injured.

Special mask for Martin Skrtel

I had a really bad feeling when Carragher and Skrtel clashed heads on Sunday. Not as bad as I'm sure they had, but you know what I mean. Turns out he didn't actually break his jaw, it's just heavily cracked.

Nothing to see here, no injury crisis

On the surface our injury list doesn't make for good reading, but dig a little deeper and you'll see it's nothing to be too concerned about. Riera, Carragher and Gerrard had minor injuries and should all be fit this week.

Skrtel is out, but Agger is back

The quality of football on display during pre-season doesn't really matter, as it's all about building up player fitness levels and getting some practice in before the Premier League begins.

Agger injury flares up again

Looks like Agger has suffered a recurrence of the back injury he had last February. At the time he was out of action for a month. This time round though it's expected he'll only miss a couple of pre-season games.

Considering that Rafa is talking about the possibility of Agger being able to make the trip to Thailand and Singapore next week, it's fairly safe to assume that it's not a full flare up. And as long as Agger is eased back into action, they can avoid it becoming more serious.

Full back conundrum for LFC

There was rumours last month that Aurelio twisted his knee while playing football with his kids. Sadly those rumours now appear to be far more factual in nature and he looks like being out for several months. [Edit: LFC have since announced its for a max. of 2 months]

This should be a great opportunity for Insua to cement his place in the first team. But Rafa is unlikely to chance several months without sufficient cover at full back. So what does this mean for Dossena & Arbeloa ?

Arbeloa has only got one year left on his contract and is unlikely to want sign an extension. Dossena did improve (no really!) towards the end of the season, so it might be an idea to give him another chance. Both of them were supposedly leaving LFC this summer but Aurelio's injury complicates things. It will be interesting to see what Rafa decides to do.

Good news for Agger, Alonso & Mascherano

The weekend started off well enough with news that Agger had finally put pen to paper and extended his contract by 4 years. Wow, that was one hell of a protracted contract saga with months of rumours and inuendo. Whether there was a temporary falling out between Rafa & Agger doesn't matter anymore because we've secured his future at LFC.

The weekend then took a turn for the worse when both Mascherano (twisted ankle) & Alonso picked up injuries against Newcastle. In Alonso's case he suffered bad bruising and had to be stretchered off, thanks to that scumbag Barton with his two footed challenge. Fortunately both players should be back training in a matter of days.

Potential tricky fixture for Gerrards return

It's not like we're badly in need of Gerrard returning to action any time soon. But LFC have confirmed that Gerrard is back in training, and that he should be fit for a return this Sunday against Newcastle.

Bear in mind that Newcastle are fighting for their Premiership survival, so this could turn out to be a tricky fixture despite their recent poor form. Rather than taking it for granted that we'll easily beat them, I hope the lads take the game seriously to ensure that we do.

2 games without Gerrard seems reasonable

LFC have come out with a statement, saying Gerrard is in the squad for tomorrows match (despite medical scans confirming he suffered a small strain in his adductor muscle). Granted this doesn't mean he'll actually play and Rafa says they'll make a late decision on this matter.

We've got a huge game with Arsenal next weekend, and having Gerrard ready for that seems far more important, so I hope LFC come to a similar conclusion and give the lad the rest he needs, rather than risk further injury.

With our relative strength in depth, we should be able to easily cope without Gerrard and beat Blackburn Rovers tomorrow. Also the next leg against Chelsea seems an unnecessary risk considering the consequences.

Priorities for Benayoun

Benayoun picked up a hamstring injury a couple of weeks ago and acknowledges that it still hurts him, yet he intends to play for Israel this Saturday. The odds are that he'll probably tear his hamstring again.

So what's at stake here, Israel qualifying for the World Cup next year or Liverpool's title run-in. Even if Israel qualify, it's not like they've got any chance of making much progress in the competition, whereas Liverpool have a very realistic chance of winning 2 trophies in the next 2 months.

In an interview with Sky News, Benayoun said that LFC objected to his playing on Saturday yet he feels it would be the biggest disappointment of his career to miss it. Given the likelihood of aggravating the injury and what's at stake, his decision seems a little surprising.

Run of good form ends with a tear

Life must be tough for Benayoun, he has missed much of the season, yet in recent weeks found himself getting some games and even playing pretty well in them. Sadly the excitement of playing has proven too much for him and he's now the latest player to succumb to a tear in his hamstring.

Other notable absentees for the make or break games with Real Madrid and Manchester United are Arbeloa and Agger who are both still injured. Torres on the other hand stands a chance of being available, he faces a late fitness test today to see if that's hopefully possible.

Guess we'll have to sweat it over Gerrard

The one thing I hate about the likes of the FA Cup (I now rate it about as highly as the Carling Cup) is the risk it poses to our senior players. In the 3rd round it was Alonso we lost to injury. Sure enough the 4th round replay with Everton had it's own victim (plus we lost 1-0).

Gerrard is the latest star player to be injured in a 'seemingly meaningless' game. The poor lad only lasted a quarter of an hour before being subbed after straining his hamstring. Hopefully it doesn't turn out too serious and we'll have him back in time for the upcoming clash with Real Madrid [link].

Aurelio is back in the nick of time

Over the last several games, Insua has had the chance to showcase his exciting potential (link), to the extent that he looked like cementing his place in the first team. Unfortunately though, Insua has decided to attend the Under-20 South American Championships with Argentina, which lasts for a month.

Fortunately for us, Aurelio made his return from injury, coming on as a sub against Preston last Saturday. Given that we've got Everton and Chelsea coming up in the next month [link], he should have enough time to work on his fitness and provide us with the quality we need at left back.

Alonso in a brace, Keane should've scored a brace

The prospect of facing Preston North End in the 3rd round of the FA Cup, was hardly ever going to whet the appetite. So for a borderline 'meaningless match', the last thing you want is to see any of your better players picking up any injuries. Sadly that's exactly what appears to have happened with Alonso, the extent of his injury should become clear in a couple of days.

Keane is a player whose confidence should have been riding high coming into this match, but he missed several glaring opportunities to score, never mind at least hit the target. Hopefully his confidence won't take too hard a bashing.

Apart from the excellent performances of Alonso and Riera (who scored a stunning goal), it was the unselfish actions of Gerrard which really made watching this game worthwhile. It would've been so simple for Gerrard to score himself, but he literally gifted a goal to Torres instead. It was a generous gesture which should help Torres settle quicker after being out for so long.

Happy news for the cult of Skrtel

Agger and Hyypia have been taking turns to partner Carragher over the last couple of months while Skrtel has been out injured. I had hoped Agger would make the most of Skrtels absence to cement his place in the side and earn a new contract. Sadly that didn't happen.

Skrtel has started training again, and will probably [sensibly] be eased back into the side (forget about him making the Arsenal game). Skrtel and Agger remain our 2 best defenders (when on form) and hopefully represent the future of our central defence.

For now though, it appears that Skrtel & Agger are merely competing with each other for the right to play alongside Carragher. If Skrtel does get the nod ahead of Agger, hopefully Agger will get a shot at left back so he can find some consistent form and earn a new contract.

Gerrard gives Lucas the cold shoulder

For someone so young and inexperienced, last season Lucas showed many glimpses of his talent with excellent composure against even the bigger teams. His simple style of play involved giving the team options through intelligent passing and movement.

Despite not really impressing so far this season, there's undoubted potential there. It takes times for all players to mature and even then they still go through rough patches (same for Gerrard, Mascherano and Alonso).

Unfortunately Gerrard clattered into the kid yesterday on a frosted training ground pitch, which left him grasping his shoulder in agony. There's still no word on how long he'll be out for. Which is a shame as he makes a more than credible 4th choice midfielder [for the time being]. Who knows, maybe in another year or two, we'll all be drooling over his performances.

Insua, Dossena or Agger to replace Aurelio

Dossena for all his obvious ability in Serie A, has failed to show anywhere near that level since joining LFC. Which makes you wonder whether Rafa should risk playing him over the next couple of weeks (could be a chance for him to settle), or whether he should consider other options at left back.

Insua lacks experience but has potential and currently looks a safer bet than Dossena. If Rafa were concerned about testing Insua in the Premiership, then why not consider Agger at left back (Hyypia can go centre) who would be more than capable and reliable in that position.

LFC has confirmed that Aurelio will be out again for about 2 weeks due to a calf strain he picked up the other night. Like all Reds fans, I want us to win the Premiership. I hope Rafa makes the right choice.