Football - Liverpool FC: Liverpool striker Fernando Torres returns to Spain to try and sort out hernia injury

Nov 6 2009 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

Football - Liverpool FC: FERNANDO TORRES has flown to Spain for a second opinion on the hernia injury that Liverpool fear will require surgery to repair.

Torres has visited a specialist in Valencia to assess his ongoing problem that continues to hamper his game.

Medical staff at Melwood have diagnosed what manager Rafael Benitez detailed as a “sportsman’s hernia” earlier this week.

But with Torres continuing to be troubled by the problem, Liverpool are determined to discover the root cause.

The striker has yet to play a full 90 minutes since suffering the injury while on international duty with Spain a month ago.

His movement was clearly affected during the 1-1 Champions League draw in Lyon on Wednesday night.

Liverpool, though, are desperate for both Torres and skipper Steven Gerrard, whose groin injury has restricted him to playing just 25 minutes of the last games, to avoid the need for an operation.

And Benitez has reiterated that no decision has yet been made over whether either will go under the knife.

“Fernando played with pain, and after the game he still had the same problems that have troubled him for a few weeks,” said the Liverpool manager.

“He wants to wait, rather than have an operation. He wants to work with the physios to try to solve his problems, but still he has pain. He told me he needed to keep stopping during the game because of the pain.

“Whether there is the need for him or Steven to have an operation is a decision we will probably not take straight away.

“We must see how they can improve, and by how much. Then we will decide about any possible operation.”

Liverpool have been rocked by a major injury crisis, with Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson, Martin Skrtel, Albert Riera and Fabio Aurelio all injured and both Fernando Torres and Daniel Agger playing while not fully fit.

Alberto Aquilani, an unused substitute in Lyon, is still some way short of match sharpness while fringe players such as Andrea Dossena, Philipp Degen and Martin Kelly were also absent.

While Benitez is hopeful that Skrtel will be available for Monday’s Barclays Premier League visit of Birmingham City, the manager is less confident of the fitness of Johnson or Kelly.

And with Carragher and Degen both suspended after their red cards at Craven Cottage, Liverpool are facing a major selection headache at right-back.

Meanwhile, Dirk Kuyt admits Liverpool’s players are still reeling from the last-minute equaliser by Lyon on Wednesday that has left the Anfield outfit on the brink of Champions League elimination.

“It feels like a defeat,” says Kuyt. “I think we deserved to win, but we conceded in the last minute and everyone is really disappointed.

“It’s out of our hands now, but we stuck together as a team here and everyone put a lot of effort into the game.

“We showed character and that’s what we have to do at this stage.

“We deserved more, but all we can do is work hard and be ready for the next game.

“If we keep working hard like this, things will change quickly.

“The most important thing is we as players, staff and a team are sticking together and we want to fight – I am sure we will come back stronger.”