Injured Lucas returns to Liverpool

Liverpool midfielder Lucas has returned to England after a six-week stay in Brazil, during which he had surgery on his injured knee.

The Brazil international is set to miss the remainder of the season after sustaining the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury during Liverpool’s League Cup victory over Chelsea on November 29, but returned to the club’s Melwood training ground as he embarks on the next stage of his rehabilitation.

“I am really happy to be back,” he told the club’s official website.

“I’ve really missed my team-mates and the atmosphere here, so that’s why I decided to come back here to continue my rehab.”

“I am still a long way away, but the knee is getting better and the rehab is going well. I have to make sure I complete a perfect rehab and be back as soon as possible.”

“The next stage is to get the knee moving and in the next few weeks I’ll start to walk again. Hopefully in a month’s time I’ll start in the gym and my programme and be able to work with weights.”

“When you’re on crutches you cannot do too much so I can’t wait to start my programme and get in the swimming pool and things like that.”

“The physios and the doctors have told me the rehab is going well and progressing well. I am doing everything I can to help my knee recover.”

During his time away from England, Lucas watched his club’s games on television and kept in touch with fans via Twitter, an experience he said helped to overcome frustrations at being out of action.

“One of the reasons I decided to come back is because I think it would be good to watch the games here and be closer to the fans,” he said.

“Since I’ve been out, I have tried to spend my time watching the games and using Twitter with the fans so I could be closer to them and closer to the club as well.”

“Unfortunately I am not able to play, so I had to find another way to be involved in the games and using Twitter seemed like a good one.”

“It’s the first time in my career I have been out for a long period and using Twitter with the fans was a good way of not getting too frustrated and support my teammates.”

Liverpool will take on Manchester City in the League Cup semi-final second leg on Wednesday, before an FA Cup fourth-round tie against Manchester United on Saturday.

Lucas is confident his team-mates can get two positive results following a disappointing 3-1 defeat against Bolton in the Premier League on Saturday.

“For sure I will be at Anfield, trying to support and also go into the dressing room,” he said.

“It won’t be easy for me because it will be my first game at Anfield while I have been injured, but it is a really important game and we have a change of getting to the final. Hopefully in February I can be at Wembley getting a medal.”

“I am confident we can get two good results this week. We have shown against the big teams we are capable of winning against these type of teams. We have to believe.”

“I know we didn’t have a good result against Bolton, but now we will play in other competitions and against City we have a chance of getting to the final. I think the fans will be very excited and will support us throughout the 90 minutes.”