Steve Finnan doubt but Jamie Carragher hopeful

Sep 11 2007 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

Steve Finnan (158)

RAFAEL BENITEZ received a mixed medical bulletin yesterday ahead of Liverpool’s visit to Portsmouth on Saturday.

Steve Finnan is now a major doubt for the trip to Fratton Park after his knee injury ruled him out of the Republic of Ireland’s Euro 2008 qualifier in the Czech Republic tomorrow.

But Jamie Carragher has raised hopes of his weekend availability by stepping up training following the broken rib he suffered at Sunderland a fortnight ago.

Finnan has been undergoing intensive treatment at Melwood since sustaining a medial ligament strain in his right knee during Liverpool’s 6-0 win over Derby County earlier this month.

Although it meant he missed Ireland’s 2-2 draw in Slovakia at the weekend, there were hopes the right-back would be fit for tomorrow’s game in Prague.

But Ireland manager Steve Staunton yesterday confirmed Finnan’s failure to recover in time, making the 31-year-old a doubt for Liverpool’s journey to the south coast on Saturday.

However, Finnan’s absence could be offset by the return of Carragher, although any decision will depend on how the centre-back reacts during training this week. Benitez said: “We must be careful with Carra, and we will wait until the end of the week to see how well he is. He is running again and he will do more training and then maybe we can see if he has a chance to play at the weekend. At this moment, it’s still too early to say.”