Liverpool Midfielder Set for Christmas Return; Dalglish Remains Coy Over Torres Bid

Liverpool could welcome back Steven Gerrard for the Boxing Day clash with Blackburn Rovers, after the midfielder returned to training this week.

Gerrard has been side lined for two months with an ankle infection, leading to speculation the England international's injury was worse than first diagnosed.

However, Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish revealed the dynamic midfielder was making good progress after his latest setback and was in-line to make a return to the first-XI over the festive period.

Liverpool will be hoping to keep pace with the Premier League's top four when they travel to Aston Villa on Sunday.

Gerrard is unlikely to feature at Villa Park but Dalglish is targeting a return for the Liverpool playmaker over a busy festive period.

"Steven is progressing and training really well," Dalglish said. "Everybody is delighted with his progress, so that is positive as well.

"We'll wait and see [about his comeback]. We won't set any targets for Sunday that we won't reach.

"When he's ready he'll be ready. It's fantastic for him that he's progressing as well as he is and great for us as well."

Dalglish has no fresh injury concerns ahead of Sunday's clash but, with a hectic run of upcoming games, including a trip to Wigan before a home tie against Blackburn, the Liverpool manager is taking no risks with his squad's fitness.

"We'll get the first game done, and then we'll worry about the one after it," Dalglish added. "We know what fixtures we've got coming up, but there is not a great deal of thought that goes into the one beyond the Aston Villa game.

"The greatest influence on the team against Aston Villa will be who we're playing against - not the game that's coming after that at Wigan. First thing's first."

Meanwhile, Dalglish refused to be drawn on speculation linking former-Liverpool striker Fernando Torres with a return to Anfield.

Torres has struggled to make an impact since joining Chelsea from Liverpool for £50m in January and reports this week suggest the Blues might accept a cut-price deal of around £20m to offload the Spaniard.

"We will not speculate on anybody, whether they are our players or anybody else's players," Dalglish said. "It does not matter what is said, there will always be speculation, and we will not be there to answer every question.

"We will do our business where we have been brought up to do our business, which is in private and behind closed doors."