Kuyt and Johnson injury news

Dirk Kuyt could be in contention for an early return from injury against Chelsea a week on Sunday, Roy Hodgson today revealed.

Liverpoolfc.tv reported on October 15 that Kuyt would be out for a month with an ankle injury sustained on international duty.

However, the Dutchman has been making a speedy recovery at Melwood.

Hodgson told us: "Dirk Kuyt is making incredible progress. He shouldn't be as far advanced as he is with his ankle but he's looking good. I don't think he'll be fit for the weekend but maybe the weekend after."

Meanwhile, Glen Johnson is a doubt for Sunday's trip to Bolton with a muscle injury which has seen him miss our last three fixtures.

"With Glen Johnson it's one of those things that will be touch and go for the weekend," said Hodgson. "He's making strides but he's not 100 per cent."

In other injury news, Ryan Babel and Fabio Aurelio both featured in a reserve friendly with Huddersfield on Tuesday - though the former was forced off after a knock to the ribs.

Hospital scans have since discovered no serious damage.

Hodgson said: "Ryan got a nasty knock in the friendly match with Huddersfield, which is unfortunate. A player landed on him and his knee went into Ryan's ribs. Fortunately nothing is broken or cracked. That's good news but it's still a painful blow.

"It's a question of how quickly the pain subsides and whether he can tolerate it. It's not a major injury but it might take a couple of days.

"Fabio's fine. We wanted to give him some game time because, unfortunately, after the Trabzonspor game he played he missed a lot of football again. The sports science team were building him up and he did well against Napoli when he came on for 20 minutes.

"He played for an hour yesterday, so he's definitely making strides."

Elsewhere, Hodgson confirmed Daniel Agger was still some way short of full fitness.

To watch our exclusive chat with the boss click on the play button below