Joe Cole is likely to miss Liverpool’s clash with his old club Chelsea, it was confirmed on Tuesday, but he has not been ruled out.
The Reds midfielder picked up a hamstring knock in Sunday’s 1-0 win at Bolton Wanderers and the club had stated that he will be out for two weeks, though boss Roy Hodgson later said the knock was not as bad as first feared.
He will definitely miss the Europa League clash with Napoli on Thursday, and – should he miss the Chelsea game – could also be absent for next midweek’s game at Wigan Athletic.
Liverpool’s head of sports medicine and sports science, Dr Peter Brukner said after Cole’s scan: "The scan confirmed Joe has sustained a hamstring strain. It is not a serious injury but still means he is likely to be out for two weeks."
However, Hodgson later said: "With Cole it's not as bad as feared. It shouldn't keep him out for that long. I would say it's a week to ten-day injury.
“The scan was positive in that it's a very minor tear he has, but you can't really put a definite date on how long that tear is going to take to repair. But the physical people are very optimistic.
"It's a question of how quickly he can recover and what progress he can make. At the moment he's not even ruled out for the Chelsea game but we'll see how he goes later in the week."
Meanwhile, Cole’s fellow England international Glen Johnson could return against Napoli after missing four games with a muscle injury.
Hodgson said of the defender on Tuesday: "Johnson trained today. If nothing happens tomorrow then he can play on Thursday.
Hodgson then added: "Dirk Kuyt is making extraordinary progress and with any luck he'll train with the team on Friday.
"For the weekend he's a possibility if all goes well with the training sessions on Friday and Saturday."
Defender Daniel Agger remains sidelined for the Napoli game, but Sotirios Kyrgiakos – who has starred in the Dane’s absence - missed Tuesday training too as he has been feeling his groin, though Hodgson said he was rested just as a precaution.