• Premier League

Liverpool will not rush Gerrard recovery - Dalglish

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has stressed that the club will not be rushing back Steven Gerrard from his injury lay-off.

Gerrard, 31, last featured for Liverpool in March, having undergone a groin operation and then suffering a setback with an infection in his rehabilitation during pre-season.

The midfielder has returned to training but is unlikely to feature against Tottenham this weekend, although he could make his return in next Wednesday's Carling Cup meeting with Brighton.

Dalglish said: "Steven is progressing very well, Martin Kelly is back training and Fabio (Aurelio) is close to coming back to joining us also. We will pick and choose when it is best suited for Steven, whichever games suits him best.

"We will analyse his recovery and how the progress is; we will do the same for Martin Kelly as we will do for Steven. We will just see what is right for Steven. There is no rush from us or from him because it has to be common sense. Everyone who is asked to play will be fit enough to play."

Glen Johnson was the victim of further hamstring trouble during his comeback in the 1-0 loss to Stoke last weekend, and Dalglish is waiting to discover how long the right back will be out for amid reports he could be absent for a further four weeks.

The Scottish coach said: "We've only got Glen Johnson (injured) really. We are just waiting for some tests to come back and wait for the results."

In the wake of that Stoke defeat Dalglish voiced his frustration at a number of decisions which he believes have gone against his side this season. He met Mike Riley, general manager of Professional Game Match Officials Ltd, on Monday and felt it had been a useful exercise.

"Everyone can speak to Mike Riley. He was coming here any way so it never made any difference,'' Dalglish said. "He is very approachable and will speak to any manager who wants to speak with him.

"It is not as if we've had any preferential treatment. Mike will visit all the clubs and so he should, we should all work together. We want to continue treating them (referees) with respect and dignity and I don't think we have failed on that point.

"They say it evens itself out over the season - so we've got a lot to look forward to I think. But decisions are going to go against us in the future, they are going to go against everyone at some stage.''

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