Injury rules Gerrard out
Steven Gerrard will miss both of England’s forthcoming World Cup qualifiers after having an operation tomorrow on his troublesome groin problem.
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez revealed that Gerrard has been playing through constant pain after the Anfield side forced their way into the Champions League group stages.
A goal two minutes from the end of extra-time by Dirk Kuyt gave Liverpool a 1-0 aggregate victory over a brave Standard Liege side in the third qualifying round.
But it was clear that Gerrard was not at his best, and he will now go under the knife to make sure he is fit to lead Liverpool into the group stages in September.
Gerrard will miss Liverpool’s trip to Aston Villa on Sunday, the England games with Andorra and Croatia and possibly Liverpool’s home league game with Manchester United on September 13.
Benitez said: ``He has a groin problem so he will have an operation and could be out for 10 to 15 days. It is not serious but we need to do it now.
“He has been playing some games in pain, not being 100% fit and we decided that this was the best moment for the operation.
“He had a problem for the first game with Liege, and also when he went away to play for England in their friendly last week against the Czech Republic.
“We talked with the doctor yesterday and today, and it was decided that Steven would play in this match with the pain. But now we will have to get the situation solved.”
Gerrard produced a match-winning late goal on Saturday against Middlesbrough, but despite a determined display against Liege, he was clearly carrying an injury in the 30 minutes of extra-time.
Liverpool, despite another worrying display, are now in the group stages draw tomorrow in Monaco.
Benitez said: “Obviously there is some relief with the result. We knew it would be a difficult game against a quick, well-organised team.
“The positive was that we played a little better than recently, we want to win trophies but we also understand the need for money.
“I was delighted that Dirk Kuyt scored the goal. His work is tremendous, he keeps going right to the end and makes a tremendous contribution to our side.”
Liege boss Laszlo Boloni said: “We are very sad after that result. Over two matches we have been the best organised team and we deserved better than to lose like that in the final minutes.
“We have produced a high standard in both matches, and now I hope that can be continued in our league matches and the UEFA Cup.
“I sometimes wondered whether the referee was effected by the fact that we were playing a big team. I felt we should have had a couple of penalties.
“But in the end we created a lot of good situations in both matches and did not make use of them.”
