'We've welcomed back world-class talent'
Liverpool's assistant manager Colin Pascoe is relishing the prospect of seeing Luis Suarez return to Barclays Premier League action against Sunderland on Sunday.
Pascoe insists the Uruguayan's presence in the 1-0 defeat to Manchester United midweek has already given the squad at Melwood a significant boost.
And Rodgers' right-hand man also reserved special praise for Daniel Sturridge, who lead the line impeccably throughout Suarez's absence.
"Straightaway we've got a world-class striker coming back in," Pascoe told Liverpoolfc.com.
"He's a great lad and he's very committed to the team and to Liverpool. The way Luis plays, he'll create chances and I'm sure that he'll score many goals.
"His return has given us a boost at Melwood. He has of course been around and he's been training over the last few months.
"But once we knew that we had a date he would return for, the players couldn't wait to get their arms around him and welcome him back into the side.
"Sturridge has been superb up there on his own and he's got the goals and worked hard for the team. With Luis coming back in, we're all excited about it."
Martin Kelly made his return to action at Old Trafford to record his first minutes since sustaining an ACL rupture of his right knee against Manchester United at Anfield in September 2012.
After more than a year on the sidelines, Pascoe was delighted to see the 23-year-old back in action - and he revealed the Reds will check on Kelly's progress over the weekend to see if he can play a part against Sunderland.
"Martin has worked hard," said Pascoe. "He had a bad injury and he's been training hard. He's played in a lot of U21s games. He's not 100 per cent fit at the moment, but it was great to see him come on at Old Trafford.
"He took a little knock in the game. We'll just assess him and see how he is and see where he is in the next couple of days."