Steven Gerrard is confident he’ll be back to action shortly after entering the final stage of his rehabilitation from shoulder surgery.
The Liverpool skipper missed the final games of the 2012/13 season to undergo the surgery and appeared in the Reds’ lap of honour at Anfield on the final day of the season last month with his arm in a sling.
Now the 33-year-old England international hopes to be resuming full-time training very shortly as plans for the 2013/14 campaign start to get underway.
“It’s going well and feeling strong,” Gerrard told LFC TV. “I’m six weeks down the line with the rehabilitation from surgery.
“I’m not too far away, maybe a couple of weeks away from contact and being back in full training if everything goes well. I’m looking forward to it.
“It’s probably the longest break I’ve had at this time of year – being out of the game for six weeks is enough, I’m itching to get back.”
Liverpool will be hoping to have Gerrard back for most of their pre-season schedule, which gets underway on Saturday, 13th July with an away friendly at Preston North End.
A week later, Liverpool travel East to face an Indonesian XI and embark on a promotional tour, in association with the club’s main sponsors, Standard Chartered.
A few days later, on Wednesday, July 24th, Liverpool play Melbourne Victory in a sell-out game in Australia, before returning to South East Asia to face Thailand.
With Gerrard’s testimonial at Anfield against Greek side Olympiakos on Saturday, 3rd August, Brendan Rodgers’ men round-off their pre-season preparations with away games at Valerenga and against Celtic in Dublin, Ireland.
Liverpool open the new Premier League season at home to Stoke City, provisionally scheduled for Saturday, 17th August 2013.
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