LIVERPOOL have received a double fitness boost ahead of this weekend’s game with Aston Villa.

Defender Jamie Carragher and goalkeeper Pepe Reina have been declared fit for the trip to relegation threatened Villa on Sunday.

Carragher was ruled out of the Reds game at Southampton earlier this month after sustaining a gash on his shin during the win over Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield.

Manager Brendan Rodgers said the game arrived 48 hours to soon for the 35-year-old but he is now expected to return to the starting line-up after Liverpool lost 3-1 on the south coast in his absence and looked shaky at the back.

Martin Skrtel, who came in for Carragher that day, is likely to drop back down to the substitutes’ bench.

Reina, meanwhile, has missed Liverpool’s last two matches with a calf problem.

Having produced some stunning saves in the 4-0 win over Wigan Athletic, the Spaniard was ruled out of the games with Spurs and Southampton.

But the 30-year-old has been an unused substitute in Spain’s two World Cup qualifiers this week against Finland and France and is ready to return to the Liverpool goal on Sunday in place of Brad Jones.

Carragher was one of only a handful of senior Liverpool players who remained at Melwood during the international break.

Eight members of the squad have been away on senior international duty with five featuring for England’s under-21 side.

The majority of the Reds squad are back at Melwood today and no fresh injury concerns have been reported back to the club.

“I'm watching the games and hoping that the players come back fit and well,” said first team coach Mike Marsh.

“Although you do want the players that are representing their country to get a positive result, I'm more concerned that when they come back to Melwood that they're fit and ready to play at the weekend.

“We seem to have come through unscathed; we've got one or two players missing who are flying back from international duty.

“They will arrive back today, they will still be in recovery and hopefully they will train on Friday.”