Gerrard set for return

Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard can expect to be in the starting line-up for the club’s vital Champions League game at Monaco tomorrow.

Gerrard came on as a second half substitute in the 2-0 defeat at Middlesbrough on Saturday after being out for two months with a broken foot. But for this vital Group A match, boss Rafael Benitez is expected to play Gerrard from the start.

Benitez still has the same problems up front with both Djibril Cisse and Milan Baros out injured, but he is likely to stick with the policy of using Harry Kewell and Louis Garcia as a strike force.

Victory for Liverpool would ensure they reach the second phase of the competition which starts in the new year.

PROVISIONAL SQUAD: Kirkland, Josemi, Carragher, Hyypia, Traore, Kewell, Garcia, Gerrard, Hamann, Riise, Alonso, Finnan, Biscan, Diao, Mellor, Sinama-Pongolle, Dudek, Warnock.