Thursday 15 January 2015 16:23, UK
Daniel Sturridge has returned to training with Liverpool but boss Brendan Rodgers admits he is some way short of match fitness.
The England striker has been out of action with a thigh injury since August and spent part of his recuperation time in America with the Boston Red Sox over Christmas.
"Daniel Sturridge is back and working well but obviously not ready to play as of yet," said Rodgers. "But he is working well and hopefully in the near future he'll be ready.
Adam is ahead of schedule in terms of his rehabilitation and we are hoping he can join the group tomorrow to train.
"Time will tell (when he can return). We just want him fit and there is no timeline on that. He is working hard and he's back into the final stages of his rehab here at the club."
And Rodgers has been further boosted by the news that midfielder Adam Lallana has return to training ahead of schedule.
The former Southampton star was expected to be out for a month with a thigh injury picked up against Leicester on New Year's Day but he, and captain Steven Gerrard, will be fit for next week's Capital One Cup semi-final against Chelsea.
"Adam is ahead of schedule in terms of his rehabilitation and we are hoping he can join the group tomorrow to train," said Rodgers.
"If he is not available for the weekend he certainly will be by Chelsea. He was playing very well before the injury and had settled into the club very well. He will get better as his time progresses at the club."
And Rodgers has ruled out a transfer window move for Mario Balotelli, who has scored just twice - in the League Cup and Champions League - this season following his big-money move last summer.
Former Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini, who had Balotelli in his charge during his time at the Etihad, had claimed the Italian was in serious danger of “wasting his career", but Rodgers insists the club are working hard to get the striker back among the goals.
He said: "Roberto knows him very well, I think he said that 'if you work with Mario you should be paid double'. I've seen that so I would agree with that definitely. I will take that on board and speak to the owners on that.
"Mario is a good guy, he has come into here and hasn't scored the goals that he or we would have wanted, but we are determined to help him find the solution here. So he certainly won't be going anywhere in January."
Rodgers also confirmed the club are discussing the possibility of cutting short Divock Origi's loan, in order to bring him to the club in January.
Liverpool signed the striker from Lille last summer but as part of the deal, he is due to remain with the French side on a season-long loan.
"He is a player who will definitely be here next summer but whether he will be here in January...there has been some discussion but there is nothing to report on it," said Rodgers.
"The agreement was with Lille for him to stay there so we will see how that works, but if not we have the players here who are developing and we will go with what we have got."
