Liverpool face fierce rivals Manchester United on Sunday and manager Brendan Rodgers is pleased that he can count on the Brazilian midfielder.
The 27-year-old has not featured since the draw with Aston Villa at Anfield in January due to a knee problem but played for the Reds’ Under-21s side against West Ham last Friday, along with team-mate Mamadou Sakho.
“We’re fine – we’ve had Lucas Leiva and young Sakho back in,” the club’s manager said at a press conference on Friday.
“It shows you the commitment of this squad. They had an opportunity to have a break, they’d been working very, very hard with the medical team, but they decided to stay and last Friday they travelled down themselves in a car to London to play in an Under-21s game.”
“Make no mistake, they are very valuable players for us in our squad and, if they’re called upon to play or come off the bench between now and the end of the season, of course we will use them. Lucas and Mamadou have got great commitment to what we’re doing and we’ll welcome them back into the squad.”
