Reds wait on Kelly

Martin Kelly could face a spell on the sidelines after injuring his hamstring in Liverpool’s 3-1 defeat at lowly West Ham yesterday.

The England Under-21s defender will undergo a scan at Melwood today to determine the extent of the damage but the initial fears are that he could be sidelined for a month.

Losing Kelly is a major blow for manager Kenny Dalglish as the Reds prepare for Sunday's clash with Barclays Premier League leaders Manchester United at Anfield.

The Academy graduate's fine form has helped establish him as a first team regular under Dalglish and prompted England boss Fabio Capello to make the trip to watch him play against Sparta Prague last week.

Kelly limped off just before the break at Upton Park and Liverpool suffered another setback when Raul Meireles was forced off with a knee injury early in the second half.

The Portugal international now faces a race against time to be fit to face United.

"Martin has pulled his hamstring and Raul got a kick in the knee," Dalglish said.

"Obviously Martin is more serious than Raul. With a hamstring he might be struggling for next Sunday, though I wouldn't take it as a given because I wouldn't know.

"I would have thought with a hamstring it takes a bit longer than a week.

"With Raul we don't know."

Dalglish made no excuses for a poor performance which saw Liverpool slip to their first defeat in nine games.

Glen Johnson reduced the deficit after first-half goals from Scott Parker and Demba Ba but Carlton Cole's late strike settled the contest.

He said: "I think the credit the boys have had has been deserved and I think they'll stand up and be honest with themselves today and say they probably got what they deserved and that was nothing.

"We never played as well as we're capable of playing.

"We never passed it as well as we can pass it and we never took the chances that came our way.

"We'll go in on Tuesday morning and try and manage and correct the mistakes we've made.

"That's all we can do. It's not just losing that's disappointing - it's the way we played."

Meanwhile, Dalglish dismissed weekend reports that he has been offered a two-year contract to make his appointment permanent.

The caretaker boss currently has the job until the end of the season.

"There's never been a discussion other than the first ones so I'm not sure where they have got that from," he said.

"If there is any news to be told we'll tell you. I'm happy to be here. I'll do what I've got to do for the club that means an awful lot to me."

Source: Liverpool Echo

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