Steven Gerrard and Martin Kelly to give Liverpool boost
Liverpool expect injured trio Steven Gerrard, Martin Kelly and Jonjo Shelvey to be back in training 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.
Hamstring injuries have sidelined both Kelly and Aurelio while Shelvey underwent a knee operation in February.
The news of the imminent return of several of his squad will come as a timely boost to Reds manager Kenny Dalglish ahead of crucial games against Manchester City at Anfield on 11 April and a trip to Arsenal on 17 April.
Clarke said the returning players will give the rest of the squad a lift going into a key month in their season.
I will be a difficult month in April with a lot of tough games, but if we can have our full squad ready to go then we'll look forward to the challenge," Clarke added.
The former Chelsea and West Ham assistant was impressed with the manner in which the Merseysiders bounced back from last Thursday's Europa League exit with a 2-0 Premier League win at Sunderland on Sunday that allowed them to further cement sixth place.
"Everybody at the football club was disappointed when we went out of Europe at such an early stage, but I think they bounced back at the Stadium of Light which is a difficult place to go and get a result," Clarke commented.
"The players have proven they can bounce back from disappointments and as everybody in football knows, that's very important."
