ALBERT RIERA has dealt Liverpool a fresh injury blow – as Rafael Benitez revealed the Anfield outfit will not ask for Saturday’s controversial defeat at Sunderland to be replayed.

Riera will undergo a scan to determine the extent of a hamstring problem suffered during training over the weekend.

The Spaniard was an unused substitute at the weekend and is definitely out of tonight’s Champions League visit of Lyon.

Liverpool are hopeful the damage is just a pull and not a tear, which could rule Riera out for a significant period.

But the winger is almost certain to be absent from Sunday’s Premier League encounter against Manchester United.

Better news came in the form of Alberto Aquilani, who is being tentatively slated for a return to action in tomorrow’s reserve game against Sunderland.

Benitez admitted yesterday Liverpool had initially expected the Italian to be available in mid-September until further assessment of his ankle injury following his £20million arrival from Roma.

Aquilani has now started full training alongside his new team-mates and could make his senior debut before the end of the month.

“We knew that Aquilani could be out for a month but afterwards, after seeing the scans we realised it would be more,” said Benitez. “But we knew that we were signing the player for five years not just for five games.

“Today I was really happy watching Aquilani on the pitch, talking about how good he was with the ball and maybe in two or three weeks he will be ready and make the difference.”