Roy Hodgson has confirmed he expects to be able to call on the services of Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres and Milan Jovanovic for Sunday's Barclays Premier League fixture with West Bromwich Albion.
The trio - along with Daniel Agger, Maxi Rodriguez and Danny Wilson - were all left behind on Merseyside due to fitness concerns as the rest of their teammates travelled to Turkey for the Europa League clash with Trabzonspor on Thursday.
However, Hodgson is confident of once again having them at his disposal for the visit of the Baggies.
"It will be nice to play at home again and hopefully get the players who weren't in Turkey back into the fray again and maybe a little bit rested," said the Reds boss.
"That will be useful. It was a very tiring pitch in Trabzon and, had we had to fight with the same eleven that we had against Manchester City against West Brom, it would be very tough for them.
"It is good to give one or two of them a rest and psychologically it will be a boost we won the game because you don't want to be going in staring at the possibilities of three bad results on the trot.
"I've spoke to the medical staff; Steven is feeling better and they are optimistic he will be OK.
"Jovanovic will be OK, but Maxi Rodriguez is still sick and Daniel Agger (concussion) is feeling a lot better too."
Meanwhile, Hodgson believes the 2-1 victory in Trabzon sends Liverpool into their weekend encounter with West Brom in buoyant mood.
The manager admits he was disappointed by some of the criticism the team received following Monday's defeat at Manchester City, but was delighted with the response of his players in Turkey.
"I can't get my head around why, on the second game of the season, it should be seen as such a watershed," said Hodgson.
"We lost a football game. But we showed great character, to keep going and keep playing the right football against Trabzonspor and I was really pleased we achieved victory against a team which are notoriously difficult to beat.
"It is always important to win games and it was good preparation for Sunday.
"It wouldn't have been nice going into the game with two defeats behind us so getting a victory was important for the psychological feeling coming up to a West Brom game."
The trio - along with Daniel Agger, Maxi Rodriguez and Danny Wilson - were all left behind on Merseyside due to fitness concerns as the rest of their teammates travelled to Turkey for the Europa League clash with Trabzonspor on Thursday.
However, Hodgson is confident of once again having them at his disposal for the visit of the Baggies.
"It will be nice to play at home again and hopefully get the players who weren't in Turkey back into the fray again and maybe a little bit rested," said the Reds boss.
"That will be useful. It was a very tiring pitch in Trabzon and, had we had to fight with the same eleven that we had against Manchester City against West Brom, it would be very tough for them.
"It is good to give one or two of them a rest and psychologically it will be a boost we won the game because you don't want to be going in staring at the possibilities of three bad results on the trot.
"I've spoke to the medical staff; Steven is feeling better and they are optimistic he will be OK.
"Jovanovic will be OK, but Maxi Rodriguez is still sick and Daniel Agger (concussion) is feeling a lot better too."
Meanwhile, Hodgson believes the 2-1 victory in Trabzon sends Liverpool into their weekend encounter with West Brom in buoyant mood.
The manager admits he was disappointed by some of the criticism the team received following Monday's defeat at Manchester City, but was delighted with the response of his players in Turkey.
"I can't get my head around why, on the second game of the season, it should be seen as such a watershed," said Hodgson.
"We lost a football game. But we showed great character, to keep going and keep playing the right football against Trabzonspor and I was really pleased we achieved victory against a team which are notoriously difficult to beat.
"It is always important to win games and it was good preparation for Sunday.
"It wouldn't have been nice going into the game with two defeats behind us so getting a victory was important for the psychological feeling coming up to a West Brom game."
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