Reds receive midfielder boost

Liverpool expect midfielder Alberto Aquilani to be fit for their Europa League qualifier against FK Rabotnicki on Thursday (Liverpool 2/9 - first leg 90 minutes) after he repsonded well to treatement on a knee injury.

The Italian picked up the knock in the 0-0 friendly draw against Grasshoppers last week and did not feature in the 1-0 defeat against Kaiserslautern as a precaution.

Aquilani, nicknamed 'The Prince', has been tipped to make a big impact at Anfield this season following a debut campaign severely disrupted by injury but the alarm bells were ringing when he suffered the knee injury, only for boss Roy Hodgson to reveal the problem is not serious and he expects to have him available for Thursday.

Hodgson said: "Peter (Brukner, fitness chief) told me he ran for the first time on Saturday.

"So I would expect him to be fit for Thursday."

Hodgson has so far named two inexperienced sides in the first two friendlies of the summer with the players involved in the World Cup yet to feature but, speaking after the defeat against Kaiserslautern, the Reds boss admitted he is tempted to use his star players in the qualifier (Liverpool to win 3-0 in first leg - 7/1).

He added: "The sports science people are keen we don't throw the World Cup people into action, but to throw this team into the Europa League might be a bridge too far for them."