Liverpool host Burnley on Wednesday with the Reds looking to continue their rich vein of form since the turn of the year. They beat champions Manchester City 2-1 on Sunday, closing down the gap to the top four to just two points.
Captain Steven Gerrard, Mamadou Sakho, Lucas Leiva, Jose Enrique, Glen Johnson, Jon Flanagan, Brad Jones and Jordon Ibe were all sidelined from the last match, though Rodgers has a relatively large squad to choose from as compared to last season.
Giving an update about the squad’s fitness, Rodgers was satisfied with the depth which he has at his disposal.
a The squad depth has been important,a he said ahead of Burnley’s visit.
a I dona t want too many players, thata s the honesty of it. Really, you want 16/17 that you know you can put in and I like to have young players on top of that I can put in.”
a Wea ve had six or seven players missing and certainly in my first period here that would have really hurt us.”
a Now we can change and put in a young player and hea ll slide into the system and understand how it works and right now ita s working very well.a
Youngster Jordan Ibe suffered an LCL injury against Besiktas last week and will be out for at least a month.
“Jordon Ibe will probably be out for a few weeks,” Rodgers said. “He twisted his knee, laterally on the outside, in Turkey and had to come off towards the end. He has had a scan on that.”
“It is not too serious, but it’s probably just going to mean him out for a few weeks. We’ll probably have him back towards the end of March.”
Steven Gerrard has returned to training after recovering from a hamstring injury though it’s unlikely that he will be part of the squad to face Burnley for the first time since February 10.
The manager gave an update about Gerrard: “He’s coming along very well. He is building up strength in his hamstring and he has been outside, so he is working very hard. Hopefully in the very near future, he’ll be back and available.”
The defensive duo of Mamadou Sakho and Glen Johnson should be available for match after recovering from hip injury and illness respectively.
Daniel Sturridge should start up front having come off the bench against the City while Raheem Sterling might be benched as Rodgers maintains his side’s fitness levels.
For the Clarets, Matthew Taylor continues to recover from Achilles surgery, but the duo of Dean Marney and Kevin Long have been ruled out for the rest of the season after cruciate ligament injuries.