Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina has insisted that he will not rush back from the injury that prevented him from taking part in Saturday’s Premier League victory over Reading.

The 30-year-old, now in his eighth season at Anfield, picked up a hamstring strain while on international duty with Spain, but claims he will only be returning to the side once his injury has fully healed.

“I’m getting better, little by little,” Reina told his club’s official website.

“It wasn’t worth taking any risks because you risk it getting worse. I’ll be patient and get really good.”

Australian goalkeeper Brad Jones impressed as Reina’s replacement for Saturday’s fixture, keeping a clean sheet and providing an authoritative presence behind his defence, and could well retain his place for Thursday’s Europa League clash with Anzhi Makhachkala.

Reina added: “Brad was excellent. He was composed, he was really good in the air, when he was called on he was fast off his line, and he played well with his feet. He had a complete game.

“He’s a good fighter and a good keeper for Liverpool, not just an understudy. He’s another keeper for the club and he’ll do his best to play as many games as possible.”

Andy Carroll has aired his dissatisfaction with the way he feels he has been treated by Liverpool, revealing that his dearth of prospects at the club prompted him to accept a loan move to Premier League rivals West Ham.

As things stand, Carroll remains a Liverpool player, but the 23-year-old disclosed how West Ham manager Sam Allardyce offered him the regular first team football that was not on the cards for him at Anfield.

“I haven’t really had a fair chance at Liverpool,” Carroll told ESPN.
 

“I was really told that I should move on to keep playing regular football, and obviously then Sam wanted me here and told me I would be playing regular games. So, for me it was a no-brainer coming here and to play.

“Obviously, I didn’t really get a chance there.”

Despite holding the title of Liverpool’s record signing at £35 million, the former Newcastle icon was never able to hold down a regular starting spot on Merseyside, a situation that was exacerbated by the arrival of Brendan Rodgers in the summer.

“A new manager came in and I wasn’t part of his plans,” Carroll claimed. “For me to play football, that was my chance to do that. That is why I am here at Upton Park.

“I think I could fit into every system. I believe in what I can do. Obviously [Rodgers] has his beliefs and he didn’t think that.

“But for me, obviously, it was better to move on instead of waiting for my chance – which he told me might not come.”

Carroll also spoke of his happiness at scoring for Roy Hodgson’s England at Euro 2012, and of his determination to use his chance at Upton Park to prove himself as a striker of international pedigree.

He said: “The work I put in over the season, I deserved that goal. I kept my head a lot when I could have lost it at Liverpool. I got my chance at the Euros and I took it.

“Coming here, I have got a great chance to start games and score goals, which I haven’t really had many of last season.

“I don’t think I have got a point to prove, that is the wrong way to put it. I know what I can do and the ability I have got. I know what I am capable of.

“If other people don’t believe it, that is fine. I just get on with it. But at the end of the day, I know what I can do.”

Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard has been tipped to land the role of James Bond by the man with the Licence to Kill, actor Daniel Craig.

With the latest film in the series, ‘Skyfall’, due to hit screens at the end of October, when asked if the England international had the qualities to play the well-known spy with the GoldenEye, Liverpool-supporting Craig gave him his blessing.
“Who would I rather be, captain of Liverpool or Bond? Well I don’t think I could keep up any more, so Bond will do, but Steven Gerrard would make a good Bond,” he observed to the club’s official website.

“He is a good leader so you know what, seriously, who knows?”

Having seen many footballers turn their attentions to acting after they have hung up their boots, with mixed success, should Gerrard take Craig’s suggestion to heart, all he would be really proving is that, for the 32-year-old skipper, The World Is Not Enough.