Brendan Rodgers will look at the fitness of several members of his squad ahead of Saturday's Merseyside derby - and make a decision on whether Daniel Sturridge is ready for a first start since his comeback from injury.

Having entered the game as a second-half substitute, the 25-year-old marked a return to action after a five-month absence with a goal against West Ham United last Saturday.

Sturridge added more on-pitch minutes to his tally with a cameo appearance at Bolton Wanderers on Wednesday as he works his way back to full match fitness.

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Reporters gathered at Melwood for Rodgers' pre-Everton press conference were keen to know whether the striker was close to being handed a starting berth.

The manager replied: "It is about liaising with Daniel and the medical team in terms of the risk, but he is not far away from starting now, he is really champing at the bit. We will analyse things over the coming days.

"We want to make sure he is going to be available now for the rest of the season. If the timing is not quite right it can damage us and hurt us, but his appetite to play is there, which is great.

"I need to speak with my staff and Daniel and make a decision. It is difficult because these are games that we want to win, they are not fitness games.

"We want to win football matches so it is hard if someone only needs 30 or 45 minutes. But he is not far away from starting."

Liverpool will also check on the condition of Lazar Markovic after he sustained a back injury at Bolton, as well as a trio of other first-team players who missed the trip to the Macron Stadium.

"We'll see tomorrow [on Markovic]," said Rodgers. "Dejan Lovren and Mario Balotelli were out for last night, Lucas Leiva was out as well.

"We'll see. There's nobody definitely ruled out, but we'll see how they are tomorrow."