Brazilian midfielder Lucas Leiva stepped up his recovery regime by completing 62 minutes for Liverpool’s Under-21 team against Middlesbrough on Friday in his first game since August.
Leiva, 25, who missed most of last season with a knee injury, suffered a thigh injury back at the start of the season and has not played since.
The Seleção star took to the social networking website Twitter after the game to talk about his first game back.
He wrote: “Nice to be wear the Red shirt again. Looking forward to have a good week of training and hopefully be available the beginning of December.”
And before the game his Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers spoke in glowing terms about the former Grêmio player.
He said: “I think after today and a good week’s training, next week he should be ready.
“He’ll be a big player for us. He’s got a wonderful football brain, knows the ideas we’re trying to implement here and he’s a real good man.
“He’s worked very hard. He was unfortunate that he got the injury right at the start of the season having worked so hard on his knee, but indirectly his movement is a lot better now with his knee. He’s had extra working time to prepare that and now he looks really strong and fit.
“We’ve got good players in there. Lucas is a top professional, an international player, and he’s got good experience in this country. He knows exactly what we’re trying to do, so when you’ve got someone of that calibre coming back, it certainly makes you better.”
