Kenny Dalglish admits Steven Gerrard has a problem which needs to be fixed amid growing fears the Liverpool captain requires groin surgery.
The England midfielder did not travel with his club ahead of Thursday night's Europa League last-16 first leg against Braga in Portugal and it is feared that he could be facing an operation.
Gerrard clearly played at less than 100% in Sunday's win over Manchester United and the previous weekend's defeat to West Ham, and Liverpool are set to make a decision on their skipper's fitness on Friday.
The 30-year-old has been carrying the injury for a month and has already missed four matches for club and country as a result, with possible surgery also likely to rule him out of England's Euro 2012 qualifier with Wales and the friendly against Ghana.
Dalglish confesses that his skipper is struggling, but the Liverpool boss is also eager to avoid speculation, as he said: "For Steven and us it's a niggling problem to which we have to find a solution.
"Hopefully, it will be cleared up and he will be available for most matches. But everyone has to be carefully managed, whether they're fully fit or slightly fit.
"That's why we have a squad of players, because sometimes the most important ones are those who don't play as often as they'd like.
"There's no way we will speculate about any player, especially Steven. It's a problem that is minimal but needs to be fixed."
