Agger To See Specialist

Roy Hodgson has revealed Daniel Agger will see a specialist in London today in a bid to cure a calf injury as the boss confirmed he will field a strong line-up against Napoli on Thursday night.

The Danish centre-back has not figured for Liverpool since the Anfield draw with Sunderland on September 25.

The boss does expect to have Glen Johnson in contention for the clash with Napoli, however, but Ryan Babel, Dirk Kuyt and Fabio Aurelio are likely to miss out as they continue to recover from injuries.

Nonetheless, Hodgson is vowing to select a strong XI as Liverpool attempt to take a big step towards qualification from Europa League Group K.

He told journalists at Anfield: "The injury situation is gradually improving. Glen Johnson has been training since the start of the week, which is very positive. Dirk Kuyt and Fabio Aurelio are still training separately, or in Daniel Agger's case not at all.

"He has a fairly serious calf problem and will travel to London today to see another specialist for a second opinion.

"But when it comes to Aurelio and Kuyt, they are both out on the training field, training individually trying to get over their injuries.

"Ryan Babel has actually trained with us as well since the start of the week, despite the severe bruising on his ribs.

"He has done well to get back as quickly as he has done because bruised ribs are a tricky injury because if you take another bang on them it can be very, very painful

"I'm not certain about his participation on Thursday night, but at least he's back in training and could certainly be ready for the weekend.

"Brad Jones is another slight injury worry we have, but again I think a lot of these players will be fit for the weekend game against Chelsea and that means we've got a pretty large squad to choose from on Thursday night.

"I think the team we put out on Thursday will be regarded on paper as a stronger team, I just hope it's a stronger team on the field of play because the team that played in Napoli did very well."

Hodgson revealed he has already named his team for the encounter with Napoli, but was not prepared to give any clues to the journalists gathered at Anfield.

Asked whether Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres would face the Italian side having sat out the goalless draw in Naples a fortnight ago, the boss replied: "Wait and see on Thursday night for that one. I am not prepared to give any indication of what the team will be. I think it is too early to do that.

"I have named the team for players but I prefer to let other people wait and see - it adds a little bit to the excitement.

"But I am prepared to say that I think it is a strong team and I am hoping tomorrow night we will play well enough to get the victory to take a big step towards the knockout stages, which is our ambition in this competition."

The 0-0 draw in Italy two weeks ago kick-started an unbeaten three-match run for Liverpool, which was followed by victories over Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers.

However, the boss again refused to be drawn on any talk of the Reds having 'turned a corner'.

Hodgson said: "I think there have been signs that we are beginning to find our feet and the team is beginning to gel together.

"The last two games have brought victories and when you get a victory it is much easier to say 'We gelled together and did the right thing.'

"I am fairly confident that with the way the players work and apply themselves and the way everyone is trying to work hard to make us into a better team, we will see evidence of that in the games we play.

"Whether or not that means we'll win them all I can't say, but I don't have so many fears I am going to put a team on the field and they're going to be playing in a way I can't identify with or that I can't take responsibility for.

"That hasn't been the case so far and if we take the last two games I've got to say I am very pleased and satisfied with the performances.

"But of course, a manager is always a lot more satisfied when his team wins. When you lose you see a multitude of sins and when you win you see a multitude of positives. Probably in every performance there are positives and negatives.

"I am not prepared to talk about turning corners or about results being catalysts for the future. What we've got to do is keep working, keep our feet on the ground and make up ground because we lost a lot of ground at the beginning because of a very poor start to the season.

"We have got ourselves at a stage now where we've got a platform on which we can build, but we're going to need a lot more good results before we can get that platform as high as we'd like it to be."