Kenny Dalglish will continue to ease Steven Gerrard back into action, with Liverpool wary of asking for too much, too soon from their skipper.
Gerrard made his eagerly-anticipated return from injury on Boxing Day as he stepped off the bench during a 1-1 draw with Blackburn.
A 21-minute outing in that Anfield stalemate was only his sixth appearance of the season, with an ankle infection having kept him sidelined for long periods.
It is hoped that he can put his injury troubles behind him and help the Reds' push for a top-four finish, but Dalglish insists he will not be rushing his captain back into a regular role.
"We will manage it as professionally as we did before," said the Scot.
"Steven was back to full fitness before he got a freak injury and that's why he had to recuperate again, but the two of them weren't related.
"He is back and looks even better than he did the last time he came back but we are not going to be irresponsible and throw him in and take a chance.
"We know he's fit and we know he just needs game time; in the same way as we monitored him through the last time and we'll do the same this time.
"It has been disappointing for us not to have him fit and available for selection.
"He has been frustrated but I think he feels the bad luck may be behind him and he deserves a bit of good fortune."
Dalglish will hope that Gerrard's return can help to galvanize Liverpool, with the Reds boss looking for his side to build on recent showings on home soil and turn Anfield into a fortress - starting with Friday's meeting with Newcastle.
"If you want to be really positive you could say we are undefeated at home but we've said before we don't want to set our standards that low," the Scot said.
"We want to be winning our home games as often as we possibly can and we've certainly given ourselves opportunities to have won every home game.
"We haven't done that but we will keep going and we believe we will do.
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