Good news on the injury front

"It's good news for the two of them," said Houllier. "They have both worked really hard in rehabilitation and they should get their rewards by coming back to the first team earlier than we thought.

"I would say they are between two and four weeks ahead of schedule. They have both started running again which is pleasing.

"We need as many players as possible to be fit for the second half of the season because that is going to be an important period for us."