Sturridge could miss four weeks

Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge faces another two to four weeks on the sidelines.

The 25-year-old England forward has been out of action for six weeks due to a thigh strain he picked up on international duty.

He had been thought to be close to a comeback but, according to the Liverpool Echo, pulled his calf during training on Thursday and could now be absent for up to another month, meaning he could miss England's Euro 2016 qualifying match against Slovenia.

"Daniel has pulled his calf," Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers told the newspaper.

"He's looking at being out for another two to four weeks.

"It's a big blow as we were looking forward to welcoming Daniel back. He has worked tirelessly.

"But we have other players training hard and working hard and we will turn to them. It's why we bulked up the squad in the summer."

Meanwhile, Rodgers is adamant young players like Raheem Sterling have to be protected to prevent them being "broken" by their mid-twenties.

Sterling's fitness and well-being has been the topic for intense debate all week since he told England boss Roy Hodgson he was feeling tired ahead of the Euro 2016 qualifier in Estonia.

Rodgers is furious the 19-year-old has been misrepresented after being accused of not wanting to play for his country but insists talents like him have to be protected.

"The physicality and the intensity of the game is something which has a consequence on players and you see that throughout Europe - hence the reason we have to help recover players," Rodgers said.

"As a manager it is key that you have your best players playing and they cannot play every single game at the top level - and in particular young players.

"You can break a young player with too many miles on the clock as a youngster and he will end up finishing his career at 26, 27.

"Our idea is to protect the player to maximise the number of games he can play in, but have a strategy going forward so he can play.

"All I want to say is he is back here, in a secure environment, where he can develop.

"From today onwards we want to put this to bed and move on and concentrate on looking after a player who is a young talent who needs to be given space and protection to develop so he can play not only for the next few years but for the next 12 or 13 years."

Rodgers criticised the vilification Sterling had received after Hodgson made it public about his tiredness concerns - although the Reds boss stressed there was no issue between Liverpool and England despite striker Daniel Sturridge getting injured in training on last month's international break.

"This is a kid we bring up to be responsible and honest - lots of players will tell you they haven't played when they haven't felt right but this is a kid who didn't say that," said Rodgers.

"What he was saying was he felt tired. What has been disappointing in the whole affair is it has been grossly unfair how the kid has been put on the back pages for something he clearly did not say.

"For a couple of days it probably shook him a little bit but he was brilliant in training."