Liverpool expect their three injured players of Steven Gerrard, Martin Kelly and Jonjo Shelvey to back in training with them next week.

Captain Gerrard was set to be sidelined for a month but could feature at West Brom in the Premier League on 2 April.

Reds first-team coach Steve Clarke said: “They are all improving. Fingers crossed, we will have Martin Kelly and Steven Gerrard back training next week.

“We hope the same for Jonjo Shelvey, who has been out for a long time. Fabio Aurelio is also making good progress.”

Gerrard suffered the injury in Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on 6 February.

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Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard may face a spell of absence of up to 4 weeks due to a ‘significant’ hamstring injury sustained whilst on friendly duty for England on Wednesday night.

he skipper will have a scan later today but an early assessment has already been made by the club’s medical team at Melwood.

Gerrard left the field after 85 minutes of England’s 2-1 defeat to France on Wednesday night.

Dr Peter Brukner told Liverpoolfc.tv: “Steven injured his hamstring last night. He’s just been in for an early assessment here and it certainly looks like a significant hamstring injury.

“He’s just heading off for a scan as we speak and we should have the results of that tonight.

“He’s going to be out for a little while, I’m afraid. I’d imagine it could be three to four weeks.”

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Liverpool‘s captain Steven Gerrard came off the bench and inspired his team last night with a hat-trick in the second half to see his team beat Napoli 3 – 1 at Anfield in their Europa League encounter last night in front of new owner John Henry.

Lech Poznan scored two late goals – one freakish and the other superb – to stun Manchester City 3-1 in the Europa League on Thursday while Juventus drew 0-0 with Salzburg for their fourth draw in as many group games.

CSKA Moscow and BATE Borisov became the first teams to guarantee a place in the knockout rounds, the Russians beating Palermo 3-1 to maintain their 100 percent record while the Belarus outfit beat Sheriff Tiraspol by the same score.

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Fabio Capello has hinted at pairing Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard in the central midfield for England at the World Cup.

They might be two of the national team’s best players but getting the best out of both of them at the same time proved beyond Sven-Goran Eriksson and Steve McClaren.

It was only when Capello began to use Gerrard in a more attacking role wide on the left that a solution was finally found.

However, with Gareth Barry’s presence in South Africa dependent on recovery from an ankle injury he will have a scan on later today, Capello could not have failed to be impressed by the control Gerrard brought to a patchy England performance when he was switched back into the centre during half-time of a 3-1 win over Mexico.

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Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard believes that the derby win over Everton over the weekend was just the right medicine to kick start their stuttering season.

The Reds won local bragging rights at Anfield on Saturday as Dirk Kuyt’s close-range header 10 minutes after half-time proved the difference.

Gerrard was happy with all three points and the team’s display, especially as Liverpool had to play most of the match with 10 men after the sending-off of Sotirios Kyrgiakos.

And with confidence high, the Liverpool skipper hopes his team can keep up the momentum and finish the campaign well.

“You always enjoy beating your local rivals but it was the way we did it that was really satisfying, particularly after losing a man after half an hour,” Gerrard said. “I thought we showed fantastic character, a great attitude and I also thought we played some decent stuff at times. I thought it was a fully deserved win.

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Just when Rafa Benitez thought things couldn’t get worse for Liverpool, he is now facing the prospect of being withou his star players Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard.

The pain felt around Anfield following on Wednesday’s shock extra-time FA Cup defeat by second division Reading, was compounded Thursday by news that Torres, Gerrard and Yossi Benayoun had all sustained injuries during the 2-1 extra-time loss.

Torres, who lasted barely half an hour at Anfield, faces the longest lay-off of the trio.

The Spain striker is set to be sidelined for six weeks with a knee injury while inspirational club captain Gerrard, substituted at half-time, is expected to be out for a fortnight with a hamstring injury.

Meanwhile, Israeli playmaker Benayoun – one of Liverpool’s better players in a terrible season so far for the Merseysiders – sustained a fractured rib against Reading and could be unavailable for at least a month.

Torres is to undergo an operation but England midfielder Gerrard may not need surgery.

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