Gerrard tipped to return
21 Apr 2008 - 10:58:15
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard should have recovered from a neck injury in time to face Chelsea in Tuesday's Champions League semi-final first leg clash between the two English sides at Anfield.
The Reds midfielder missed the 2-0 win at Fulham with the injury he picked up in training, but boss Rafa Benitez is backing the England star to make a quick recovery.
"With the neck, you never know," said the former Valencia manager. "The neck is always dangerous so you need to wait.
"I think he was a little bit better on Saturday. We'll wait. We had similar problems with (Jose) Reina and (Steve) Finnan and they needed time. So we will see.
"The other day, he wanted to play but he was only able to look to the right, so I told him he could play as a left winger! We'll see if he can turn his head round and look the other way now.
"We will talk together, with the doctor. The player will say he wants to play, but there's an easy way of finding out whether he's fit.
"I will come up and tap him on the left shoulder and if he turns to face me without any pain, we will know he can play."