LIVERPOOL: England manager Roy Hodgson watched three of his players potentially join the injured Wayne Rooney on the sidelines during Liverpool’s bruising 1-0 win over Manchester United yesterday.
Rooney sat out the Premier League tussle at Anfield with a head injury and Hodgson also saw Phil Jones, Glen Johnson and match-winner Daniel Sturridge succumb to injuries.
England host Moldova in a World Cup qualifier on Friday before playing away to Ukraine on September 10 and United manager David Moyes said Rooney had “no chance” of taking part after cutting his forehead in training.
“Wayne is bad. The cut is in the middle of his forehead and will take a wee while to heal,” Moyes told Sky Sports.
“He turned around and it was a boot by Phil Jones that caught him down the forehead. Three weeks, I expect.”
Sturridge scored the winning goal with a fourth-minute header -- the third match in a row in which he has registered the game’s only goal -- but he later revealed that he had a thigh problem.
“It was great to have the manager (Hodgson) here. It’s important for me to be out on the field,” Sturridge said.
“I had a problem with my thigh before the game. It’s still hindering me now, but I went out and put on a good performance for the boys. Hopefully I’ll be OK for the (England) squad.”
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers revealed that Sturridge had been concerned about his fitness in the build-up to the game.
“We just need to assess him. He played but wasn’t sure he would make it through the game,” he said.
“He’s struggled the last couple of days but put himself out there. We need to make sure we think of Liverpool first.
“I would expect with his quality, Roy would look for him maybe to start, but our priority is to make sure he’s OK.”AFP
