Steven Gerrard has emerged as a doubt for the weekend clash with Blackburn and, possibly, the second leg of the Champions League Quarter Final with Chelsea.

Liverpool’s talisman went into last night’s 3-1 first leg defeat carrying a slight knock to his ankle sustained against Fulham last weekend. Gerrard had also suffered from hamstring and groin injuries earlier in the season and it’s the groin injury which is now reportedly resurfacing as a concern.

The club’s medical staff were apparently assessing his fitness today, while Rafa was casting doubt over the condition of both Gerrard and Torres in his post match comments following the Chelsea defeat…

“Steven was not 100% – you could see that. It was the same for Fernando Torres, you could see that they were a little tired, not as sharp as before,” remarked Benitez.

“But they have been playing well and we felt it was okay to use them both in this game. We need them.”

That last comment in particular appears to hint that Benitez will seriously consider resting both Gerrard and Torres for the weekend home game with Blackburn. The idea of going into a crucial league game without the pair when the title is still within reach, appears to be daft in the extreme. Certainly the Liverpool fans would find it hard to forgive such a decision should Liverpool slip up against Rovers. However, if Rafa can make a case for a possible injury to either Gerrard or Torres, it would give him the opportunity to rest them.

Certainly Rafa is making noises to suggest that Gerrard has a problem…

“The injury he had on Saturday was not the problem, his ankle was okay. But we do not know how he is, we will see tomorrow.”

Tomorrow is here and Gerrard has apparently undergone scans but right now details on his fitness remain sketchy. However, Rafa has clearly given us cause for concern and there is a clear threat to the Liverpool skipper and Tri-Force member starting at the weekend.