STEVEN GERRARD will visit a specialist this week with fears the Liverpool skipper may need surgery to cure his niggling groin injury.

Gerrard has struggled for full fitness since suffering a recurrence of the long-standing problem during the 1-0 win at Chelsea on February 6.

The 30-year-old did not travel with the squad to Portugal yesterday ahead of this evening’s Europa League round of 16 first-leg tie against SC Braga.

Gerrard, who missed Liverpool’s subsequent three games after the victory at Stamford Bridge but played the full 90 minutes against West Ham United and Manchester United, instead remained on Merseyside with the Anfield outfit determined to address his ongoing injury concerns.

And Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has refused to rule out the possibility of his skipper undergoing an operation to repair the damage.

“He’s not suffered any aggravation – he’s just got a problem with his groin,” said Dalglish.

“He’s not travelled, we’ll have a look at it, and should know on Friday what we will have to do.

“It’s the same problem. And for us and Steven it’s a big enough problem we have got to find a solution to. We’ll know better on Friday, where we stand exactly, but it’s nothing too serious. We don’t want to speculate about anybody, especially Steven.

“It’s a problem that’s minimal, but it needs to be fixed, and if it takes some time to get it fixed, we’ll get it fixed.”