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Posts Tagged ‘Steven Gerrard’

• Midfielder keen to persuade manager he does not need to buy
• 23-year-old currently serving three-match suspension

Jay Spearing has admitted he has to prove his value to Liverpool in order to persuade Kenny Dalglish he does not need to bring in reinforcements.

The midfielder and academy graduate was seen as the most likely to fill the void left by Lucas Leiva’s cruciate knee ligament injury which has ruled him out for the season. However, the 23-year-old was sent off on his first Premier League start of the season at Fulham last week and still has two matches of his suspension to serve.

Jordan Henderson filled in for Saturday’s victory over Queens Park Rangers and Spearing knows he has to work hard to show he is capable of providing a long-term solution.

“The club is massive worldwide and the owners have come in and shown that they’re going to back the manager,” he said. “A club the size of this is always going to attract big players.

“It has always been my dream to play week in, week out so it’s up to me to prove to the manager on a daily basis that when the transfer window does open and he has money at his disposal that he can look at a position like mine and think: ‘There’s no need to sign anyone there – we’re pretty strong’.”

Last season Spearing showed he was an able deputy to the injured Steven Gerrard, playing the last three months of the season after the captain had surgery on a groin problem. The former reserve team captain was boosted by that experience but accepts he cannot afford to be complacent.

“Kenny has given me a lot of confidence and has shown the faith that young local lads like me need to get a chance,” he told LFC magazine. “But half of it has to do with myself as well; the effort I put in day in, day out. There’s a lot of stuff in training that not a lot of people see.

“It’s the way I’ve been brought up because you don’t get much from life without hard work. My dad said to me that I had to take each day as it comes and prove every single day that I was better than the last one.

“The only way that I was going to get games was by working harder than anybody else in training; not necessarily show that I was better than anybody else but prove that I could compete and not be overawed – to show them I’m up for the fight.”

Liverpoolguardian.co.uk

• No decision whether midfielder will have surgery
• Alberto Aquilani cannot be recalled from Milan

Kenny Dalglish has ruled out a possible return to Liverpool for Alberto Aquilani and insisted there is no pressure to act in the January transfer window as a result of Lucas Leiva’s injury.

The Brazil international will miss the rest of the season having ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during Tuesday’s Carling Cup quarter-final victory at Chelsea. Liverpool and Lucas are now considering whether last season’s player of the year should undergo surgery.

The injury comes at a terrible time for player and club, with the 24-year-old in outstanding form and Liverpool now required to maintain their recent momentum without their key defensive midfielder and their captain, Steven Gerrard, who faces several more weeks on the sidelines with an ankle problem.

Dalglish, however, is philosophical about Lucas’s injury and claims that, in Jay Spearing, Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam and Jonjo Shelvey, he has the squad to withstand such a loss. Liverpool also have the £20m Italy international Aquilani on loan at Milan for the season but, under the terms of the arrangement, there is no option for an emergency recall. “If you check the rules, you will see he is not in a position to come back,” said Dalglish.

As for signing a replacement for Lucas when the transfer window reopens, the Liverpool manager said: “We don’t need to make a decision about January at the beginning of December. We have a really strong squad and have to cater for suspensions, injuries, loss of form, fatigue, whatever. That’s why you have a strong squad.

“We’d much rather have Lucas fit and well but we don’t have that. It’s up to us to accommodate that and make sure that we can handle it. That’s one of the tests you get at a football club. Someone’s always going to be missing. We feel sorry for Lucas but not for ourselves.”

Dalglish had condemned the scheduling of Liverpool’s trip to Stamford Bridge in the weeks leading up to the game, prophetically claiming there was a risk of serious injury to players who had drawn 1-1 with Manchester City just 48 hours before. But he said: “It was innocuous. Lucas’s studs stuck in the ground and resulted in his knee going. I don’t think it was as a result of the two games coming quickly. If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. He’s just unlucky.”

Dalglish again refused to put a timeframe on Gerrard’s return. “We are delighted with his progress but we don’t have any date for him to come back. It will be sooner rather than later, though,” he said.

LiverpoolKenny DalglishAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk

• Midfielder carried off in Carling Cup win at Chelsea
• Liverpool recall Jonjo Shelvey from Blackpool as cover

Liverpool are anxiously awaiting the outcome of a scan on Lucas Leiva’s knee, amid concerns the influential midfielder could be out for the rest of the season.

The Brazil international was carried off on a stretcher minutes from the end of Liverpool’s Carling Cup quarter-final victory at Chelsea on Tuesday night, following a collision with Ryan Bertrand. His manager, Kenny Dalglish, refused to speculate on the extent of the injury after the 2-0 win, and the 24-year-old is not expected to have the scan until Thursday. However, Lucas, who remains on crutches, fears he has suffered serious damage to the knee and that he faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines. His season could be over if the scan confirms a ruptured cruciate ligament and a six-month recovery period.

Lucas’s form and reputation has been transformed at Liverpool in the past two seasons and his loss would be a major setback to Dalglish, as his side look to build on two impressive wins at Stamford Bridge in nine days plus the encouraging home performance against Manchester City on Sunday.

Far from the maligned figure of Rafael Benítez’s final year in charge at Anfield, Lucas is now recognised as an invaluable member of the Liverpool team and has been virtually ever-present under Dalglish. With Steven Gerrard absent with an ankle problem, and not in line for an imminent return, plus Alberto Aquilani on loan at Milan, the possible long-term absence of Lucas would heighten responsibility on his fellow midfielders Charlie Adam, Jordan Henderson and Jay Spearing to maintain Liverpool’s pursuit of Champions League qualification.

With numbers potentially light in central midfield, Liverpool have taken the precaution of recalling Jonjo Shelvey from his successful loan spell at Blackpool. The 19-year-old scored six goals in nine Championship appearances for Ian Holloway’s side, including a hat-trick in the 5-0 defeat of Leeds United, but has returned to Anfield as a consequence of Lucas’s injury.

The Blackpool manager said: “Obviously this is a setback to us as Jonjo has done ever so well in his short time with us. We knew that Liverpool had the recall option on him and it is only the unfortunate injury to Lucas that has prompted them to take this course of action.”

Holloway has not ruled out re-signing Shelvey on loan when the transfer window reopens. He added: “We will be in regular contact with Liverpool about trying to bring him back in January should Liverpool’s injuries clear up.”

LiverpoolAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk