Liverpool wait on Pongolle verdict

Liverpool hope to find out later today if Florent Sinama-Pongolle’s knee injury will rule the striker out for the rest of the season.

The Frenchman had to be carried off on a stretcher just minutes after being introduced as a substitute towards the end of Tuesday night’s 1-0 win at Watford in the Carling Cup semi-final second leg when his knee gave way as he turned sharply.

The worst fears of the Anfield club were confirmed following a scan, when it was revealed the 20-year-old had torn his left anterior cruciate ligament, an injury which could take six months to heal properly.

A club statement said yesterday: “He will see a surgeon on Thursday morning, after which the Reds will have a better idea how long he will be out of football for.”

The loss of Sinama-Pongolle is yet another injury blow for Rafael Benitez, who is already without Djibril Cisse, Xabi Alonso, Harry Kewell and Sami Hyypia.

During his first season in charge, the Reds manager has seen plans for team selection hampered by a string of first-choice players being unavailable at one stage or another.

Nevertheless, the Spaniard has still managed to guide his patched-up squad into next month’s Carling Cup final at the Millennium Stadium, where they will play Chelsea.

Despite having seen his men crash out of the FA Cup to Burnley, Benitez still has hopes of progression in the Champions League, where they will meet Bayer Leverkusen for a place in the last eight.

And the Liverpool manager also believes his team are still very much in the race to secure fourth spot in the Barclays Premiership, despite currently trailing Merseyside rivals Everton by seven points following successive league defeats.

“We have a very good squad with more confidence now,” he reflected.

“We know that if we play compact as a team, it is very difficult to beat us.”

With Liverpool’s ability questioned following the defeats to Manchester United, Burnley and then at struggling Southampton last weekend, defender Jamie Carragher believes the Carling Cup performances can act as a springboard going into the crucial final few months of the campaign.

“This result has now given everyone something to look forward to in February,” he said.

“Not only have we got a major final, we have got the Champions League kicking off again around the same time.”