Benitez Reveals Extent Of Agger-avating Liverpool Injuries

One of the key midfielders responsible for Liverpool's lofty league position has been the in-form Xabi Alonso.

While Steven Gerrard oftengarners the British media'ssuperlatives, it is Xabi who has consistently pulled the strings, and beaten his midfield partner to Goal.com's Team of the Season (so far), announced two weeks ago.

The Spaniard though suffered relative discomfort when taking to the field in the Merseyside derby at Anfield on Monday evening after requiring seven stitches on his instep.

Danish centre half Dan Agger also faces a late fitness test to assess his availability for the fourth round FA Cup game, again against Everton, and again at Anfield.

Agger has been suffering from a calf complaint, and Benitez told the club's official website:

"He was injured. He couldn't train normally. He is progressing now by working with the physios. He'll still need one or two days, so we'll see.

"It depends more on the physios than on me - we just have to wait."

Regarding the progress of Alonso, who has already returned to training, Rafa added:

"Xabi had a problem on Monday but he was training again today so I don't think he'll have any trouble for the weekend."

Alan Dawson, Goal.com