Liverpool fear that their captain, Steven Gerrard, may need surgery to cure a groin injury that he is finding difficult to recover from.

The midfielder suffered the injury playing for England three weeks ago and was forced off after just 25 minutes of his comeback, against Lyon last week.

He is a major doubt for Liverpool’s trip to Fulham on Saturday and while the club are reluctant to opt for surgery, it may become necessary if treatment fails to work.

Meanwhile, Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt was excited by Alberto Aquilani’s 14-minute cameo at Arsenal on Wednesday. The Italian midfielder almost made an equaliser in the 2-1 defeat, his first-team debut after an ankle injury, when his overhead kick appeared to hit Philippe Senderos on the arm in the penalty area.

“Alberto tries to be involved in training and outside the pitch,” Kuyt said. “He tried to play cards with us before the Arsenal game and he has attempted to pick up the language. He’s learning very quickly. He told us he couldn’t wait to start. Hopefully, we’ll see a lot more from him.”

The hope is that Aquilani can fill the void left by Xabi Alonso. “We all know he’s a quality player,” Kuyt