Dalglish urges caution over Gerrard's England return

Kenny Dalglish has revealed his skipper Steven Gerrard is ready to step up his comeback, after coming through his first action in six months unharmed.

But the Liverpool manager has urged his England counterpart Fabio Capello not to take risks with the star midfielder, so soon into his return from serious groin injury.

England have an important European Championship qualifier against Montenegro in little more than a fortnight, but Dalglish made it clear he doesn't believe his star player should be involved.

"I don't pick England's team. Whatever they have to do, they have to do," he said. "But I would just hope that they will be as intelligent as we have been in his care.

"We'll be careful, professional and intelligent. But he's well educated, he knows himself better than anyone else. He will manage himself better than anyone else.

"The most important thing is for us all to continue the way we have done so far. To make sure we are responsible enough to get him through this and move him forward."

Gerrard made his return as a second half substitute against Brighton in the Carling Cup on Wednesday, and showed no ill-effects as he made a confident appearance.

Dalglish couldn't hide his delight at having one of the most significant players in the club's recent history back in action - and ready to lift his team at an important stage of the season.

"He's done fantastic coming back and it's fantastic for the club that he is back. The most important person in all this is Steven himself," he added. "It's great to see him back after missing an awful lot of football through injury. He's done well to get where he is.

"The thing for Steven is if he's around the football club and in the squad, fit and available, it doesn't half strengthen the squad.

"There will be no time-scale, there will be no programme. We will just take it as it comes. He's the captain, he's the talisman and he's played 20 minutes.

"He deserves to progress. It's been a disappointing time for him with injuries and we don't want to ruin this opportunity after he has done so well."

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Gerrard has admitted his time on the sidelines was a "nightmare".

Having struggled through most of last season with the problem he eventually succumbed to surgery after his side's 3-1 win over Manchester United at Anfield.

He would have returned sooner this season had he not picked up an infection in late July which set him back a few more weeks but the 31-year-old is now looking to reclaim his regular spot in the first team.

"It was good to be back with the lads," he said after his brief appearance against Brighton.

"I'd been out a long time and it was fantastic to be out there in that kit again and it was nice to get a win as well.

"It's been a nightmare for me. I'm not the best when I'm out injured and watching games.

"It's been tough and the last six months have been a rollercoaster. But it's behind me now and I'm looking forward to getting match fit and getting back in the starting line-up."

The game at Brighton also saw Martin Kelly make a welcome return having missed two and a half matches with a hamstring injury.

Glen Johnson is still recovering from a similar problem which has restricted him to just nine minutes of competitive action - as a substitute at Stoke - while centre-back Martin Skrtel's unsuitability on the right of defence was exposed by Gareth Bale in Sunday's 4-0 defeat at Tottenham which resulted in the Slovakia international being sent off.

Skrtel's fellow central defender Daniel Agger broke a rib in that game and could be out for a month.

"There are varying lengths of time for people to get back from an injury like that," said Dalglish. "We'll just let it heal and take it as it comes. He'll certainly not be fit for a few weeks.

"But Fabio Aurelio is back in training and Glen Johnson started light training.Everybody else is fit which is good for us."