Liverpool take on Bolton Wanderers in the replay of the fourth round FA Cup tie. Last week, Neil Lennon’s side held the Reds to a 0-0 draw at Anfield, and ensured that a second leg happens, this time at their home.
Daniel Sturridge made his return to the team (from the bench) and scored just 12 minutes after coming on showing the Reds just what they had been missing in his five month absence, However, Brendan Rodgers insisted that he won’t rush the 25 year old’s return and he would slowly be eased in to the thick of things, meaning he could be on the bench for this game.
Rodgers said, “When he came on, the team looked very, very good. You’ve got a genuine top European talent in Daniel Sturridge. If you get him on to the field, everyone knows his pace will always frighten teams. When you put him on, you see the power he has.
“He’s still a bit of time off starting. You saw when he came on he was still getting used to the surroundings again. It’s just about bedding him back in.”
Meanwhile, Steven Gerrard, who missed the weekend’s game against West Ham with a tight hamstring is likely to feature in this game as he returned to normal training. If featured, it would be Gerrard’s 700th appearance for the Reds, a huge achievement by any means.
a Hea s fine. He trained great this (Monday) morning,a Rodgers said. a Ia ve got to look at the risk as well, and how tight his hamstring was after the (Chelsea) game. It was 120 minutes.
a We measure the recovery process and look at that. If ita s too much of a risk we feel, like you saw on Saturday we have got other players to come in and we can just manage that recovery process for him individually.”
It would be interesting to see if Rodgers uses his fringe player for this match. The Northern Irishman used Joe Allen, Jose Enrique and Glen Johnson last time out and they didn’t put in a very convincing performance. With the Merseyside Derby scheduled to be this weekend, perhaps we might see some regulars on the bench.