Premier League: Luis Suarez 'working socks off' ahead of Liverpool return

Luis Suarez has been "working his socks off" and will be ready to face Manchester United next week, according to Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers.

Agger and Coutinho

Rodgers' squad has been stretched with vice-captain Daniel Agger the latest player added to a long injury-list at Anfield after sustaining a rib injury in training ahead of last Monday's Premier Leaguer encounter with Swansea . The Liverpool manager explained his medical staff will monitor the Dane's fitness in preparation for Saturday's game against Southampton. "We'll see how he is in the next 24 hours," Rodgers said. "It's too early to say if he'll be ready for the weekend or not. It was just unfortunate it happened the day before the game. We're hopeful he'll be fine by the weekend." Rodgers also updated reporters on the timescale of Philippe Coutinho's return to the side after the Brazilian required shoulder surgery after falling awkwardly under a challenge from Swansea captain Ashley Williams. "He's only just having it today so the timescale from the medics is obviously up to six weeks," he said. "We wouldn't anticipate any sooner than that. It's unfortunate for him because he's been in great form since he came here in January. "Hopefully we'll get him back sooner rather than later and then he can come into the group again. "These things happen in football. Hopefully he'll recover quickly and come back to us in good shape." The Liverpool manager added: "It's just unfortunate that at this moment we have had a number of injuries that have all happened at the same time because the injury record we have had here has been very good but these are things you can't plan for and it's just something we have to deal with."