Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is not overly concerned captain Steven Gerrard played in England's friendly defeat to Germany despite not being 100 per cent fit.

The national team skipper required a painkilling injection in a hip problem to get him through the game less than four days before a Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.

However, Rodgers is confident the 33-year-old can cope with the strains being put on his body.

"It's very simple; he's a brilliant professional," said the Reds boss.

"He is someone that manages his body really well - he knows he's got a superb medical team here to support that.

"The training methodology helps him because he's working in different spaces and different exercises on a daily basis. That takes away a lot of impact and physicality.

"He just manages himself really well. He knows his body. Over the last 18 months, you only need to look at his record since we came in - it has been very good.

"In big part, that is down to him and his professionalism."

Striker Daniel Sturridge also played only one of England's two friendlies - completing 90 minutes at Wembley on Tuesday - after attending international duty with a previous thigh problem.

"He obviously went to England with an injury," said Rodgers.

"He's had a dead leg for about three to four weeks that he has been playing through. He hardly trained when he left, after the Fulham game.

"We'll assess him; he's back recovering after that, with the other international players. We'll see how it is over the next couple of days."

The injury news was not so positive on left-back Jose Enrique, who is set to undergo surgery to correct a long-term knee problem.

"We're just waiting for clarification on his injury, but it looks like he'll probably need a small operation," he added.

"It's disappointing because he has been out for a couple of months and we've tried various ways to get him back fit but he's still in pain.

"The conclusion will be that he'll need the operation and we'll assess it from there.

"I just need to wait and see, wait to hear from our head doctor and we'll get a better idea of how long that will be."

Source: Daily Express