Liverpool hope scan will clear Alonso for Cup decider

LIVERPOOL midfielder Xabi Alonso will undergo a scan after an ankle injury made him a major doubt for the FA Cup final.

The Spain international was carried off on a stretcher before half-time during Liverpool’s win at Portsmouth.

He fell heavily on his right ankle and must now wait for the results of tests to establish whether he will be able to retain his place against West Ham at the Millennium Stadium next Saturday.

Manager Rafael Benitez was hopeful the injury looked worse than it was. He said: “He thinks that he will be fit but we need to wait.

“Tomorrow we will do a scan. At this moment we can talk and talk but we do not know exactly how bad it is.”

No-one was near Alonso when he went down and Benitez was sure the Fratton Park pitch was to blame.

He said: “The pitch was a little bit uneven.

“But he is not in a lot of pain and is confident he will be fit.”

Robbie Fowler, Peter Crouch and Djibril Cisse were the men on the score-sheet, with Pompey’s reply coming from Ognjen Koroman.

It was Liverpool’s 11th successive win but was not enough to enable them climb above Manchester United, who retained second place.

Benitez said: “We have ended this year closer to Chelsea and Manchester United than last year but we will have to see whether next year we can be contenders for the title. At this moment, we feel we can do better next season.”

The defeat was not too painful for the home side as the Pompey fans had already been celebrating confirmation last week that relegation had been avoided.

Manager Harry Redknapp said: “Coming to the game today was a nice feeling as we had done what we had set out to do.”

Redknapp is expected to confirm within the next 48 hours whether he will stay on as manager having been brought in as a short-term replacement for the sacked Alain Perrin earlier in the season.

He said: “I’ve got a meeting tomorrow and if they want me to stay it won’t be a problem because I won’t be hard to deal with.”

The fans also made it clear they would like to see Argentina midfielder Andres D’Alessandro make his loan move from Wolfsburg permanent as well.

Redknapp said: “If we can do a deal with him I would like to keep him. He has been excellent and we are talking to his people.”

PORTSMOUTH: Kiely, Priske, Primus (Pamarot 86), Stefanovic, Taylor, O’Neil, Davis, Hughes (Koroman 62), D’Alessandro (Routledge 68), Mwaruwari, Todorov.

LIVERPOOL: Dudek, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Riise, Gerrard, Alonso (Kromkamp 41), Sissoko, Kewell, Morientes (Crouch 67), Fowler (Cisse 83).

Referee: G Poll (Hertfordshire).