Gerrard on right track after injury blow

Steven Gerrard is making good progress in recovering from the hamstring injury that will mean he will be sidelined for up to a month according to manager Roy Hodgson.

The midfielder picked up the injury while playing for England in the 2-1 loss to France at Wembley last week.

“He’s straight into it and he’s anxious to get back as quickly as possible,” Hodgson said.

“He’s not letting any dust settle but I don’t think there’s so much he can do at the moment.

“First of all he has to let the injury quieten down and then really start to work on it.”

Hodgson also praised the work being carried out by Liverpool’s new medical team.

The sports science and sports medicine staff recruited in the summer have introduced pre-training exercises designed to prevent pulls and strains.

Only Gerrard (hamstring), Jay Spearing (ankle) and Daniel Agger (calf) occupy the treatment room.

Hodgson told Liverpoolfc.tv: “You’ve got to pay credit to the medical team. With Steven the muscle injury was not one provoked by us.

“Daniel’s is an unusual injury which could have come at any time and Jay Spearing was unfortunate in that he fell awkwardly – that could have happened at any time.

“Credit to the players – they’re buying into the ideas and all the work we do to prevent injuries at the start of every day.”

Hodgson said that midfielder Joe Cole was likely to come into contention against Tottenham on Sunday after a five-match absence with a hamstring injury.

“He had a good training session on Monday and was recovering from that on Tuesday,” said the Anfield boss. “He will train with us again on Wednesday.”