The England striker has hit a rich patch of goalscoring form while on loan at West Ham and he may yet have a long-term future at Anfield, according to the former Swansea boss

Brendan Rodgers has revealed Andy Carroll may yet have a long-term future with Liverpool.

The England striker has prospered while on loan at West Ham this season with Saturday’s equaliser at Southampton, a goal that moved Sam Allardyce’s side closer to safety, representing his fifth in his last seven games.

Carroll, who was signed by Kenny Dalglish for a British record fee of £35 million [€41m] in January 2010, became the highest profile casualty of Rodgers’ revolution at the start of the season, but his recent goalscoring exploits appear to have brought about a change in the former Swansea manager’s stance.

“It’s a case of reviewing the objectives,” Rodgers, whose side drew blank for the second match in succession at Reading on Saturday, told Sky Sports.

“This season was all about getting Andy playing games. When I came in in the summer he’d had a frustrating time up until that point because he wanted to play.

“I couldn’t guarantee he was going to play every game especially with Luis and the type of player we were trying to work with.

“But there’s absolutely no doubt that come the end of the season we’ll sit down and talk because he’s obviously a player for Liverpool and one that can contribute to what we’re trying to do.

“Andy is the type of player where there’s a certain style that will suit him when you think of his game and his goals; he’s got three from set-pieces, one from a penalty and one from a cross.

“There’s no doubt he can get goals it’s just about the style that can utilise his strengths and qualities. But there’s no doubt he’s a player who can contribute.

“Like I said, he and I will speak at the end of the season and then we’ll take it from there.”

A succession of excellent saves from the 23-year-old shot-stopper frustrated the Reds and earned the Royals another point in their fight for Premier League survival

Reading manager Nigel Adkins was full of praise for goalkeeping hero Alex McCarthy after a succession of brilliant saves earned the Royals a point against Liverpool.

The 23-year-old produced an inspired display to frustrate the visitors and keep a clean sheet in his side’s increasingly desperate bid for Premier League survival.

It was his first appearance since November but there were no signs of rustiness as he produced save after save, and Adkins was grateful for such a superb display from his goalkeeper.

He told reporters: “All the headlines tomorrow will be about Alex McCarthy, won’t they? He’s put a fantastic goalkeeping display in. He’s been out injured for a long period of time.

“I’m really pleased with the players, their attitude and their application. I thought it was a good game, but we’ve kept a clean sheet and it’s fair to say Alex has pulled off some world-class saves today.”

The draw wasn’t really enough for Reading though, who had one good chance through Noel Hunt, and the Royals still lie bottom and seven points from safety, with Adkins ruing what might have been.

“We know where we are in the division and we need to get the three points,” he added. “That’s why we talk about Alex McCarthy’s saves and we also talk about Pepe Reina’s save from Jobi McAnuff. If that one had gone in, who knows what the story could’ve been.”

Brendan Rodgers admitted his side were frustrated by an outstanding goalkeeping display, but was quick to praise McCarthy, who him worked closely with during his days at the Madejski Stadium.

“I don’t think our players could have done any more,” he said. “Some of our interchange and creativity today was outstanding.

“Some days you say you have days like that where the keeper saves one or two, but we had 14 shots on target today, away from home.

“I know young Alex very well. He’s genuinely a top, top keeper but to perform like that having been out for so long was an absolutely staggering performance.

“We’re frustrated, of course, because some of our play was very, very good. We had to defend the counterattack a couple of times, which is natural when you have the ball and you’re on the front foot. We mustn’t forget Pepe Reina made a great save as well.”

Nigel Adkins picked up his first point as Reading manager after his side’s goalless draw against Liverpool at the Madejski Stadium.

A series of remarkable saves from Alex McCarthy denied Liverpool what looked like an inevitable first-half goal and neither side managed to find the breakthrough in a more balanced second period either, with the Reading goalkeeper once again in heroic form.

McCarthy made his first start for the Royals since November while Adam Le Fondre once again started on the bench. Jamier Carragher and Jordan Henderson started for Brendan Rodgers’ side with Martin Skrtel and Stewart Downing dropping down to the bench.

The match was preceded by a well-observed minute’s silence in memory of the 96 Reds fans who tragically lost their lives at Hillsbrough 24 years ago.

The first half was dominated by Brendan Rodgers’ side with the Royals the architects of the their own downfall.

Chris Gunter’s goal-line clearance kept the scores level in the 14th minute after Suarez’s clever dink over the outrushing McCarthy looked to have opened the scoring.

The Uruguayan then turned provider, threading through Daniel Sturridge during a rapid Liverpool counterattack but McCarthy managed to parry the Englishman’s shot before also getting a hand on Phillippe Coutinho’s effort from the rebound.

The Royals shot-stopper continued to excel, keeping the Reds out with a series of fine stops with Adrian Mariappa also making a crucial block from a Steven Gerrard effort.

Adkins’ men continued to be sloppy in possession but Coutinho, Jordan Henderson and Gerrard all failed to capitalise on their mistakes, a combination of poor finishing and more heroics from the impressive McCarthy keeping the scores level at the break.

Liverpool did have the ball in the net immediately after the restart but referee Mark Clattenburg disallowed Coutinho’s cheeky back-heeled effort for offside.

Rodgers’ side didn’t dominate the second period in the manner in which they bossed the first, allowing Reading to slowly edge their way back into the contest.

But it was the Reds who looked the more likely to open the scoring with Coutinho fizzing a side-footed effort inches past the post just past the hour mark.

Moments later Reading had their best chance of the match; Pavel Pogrebnyak left Luis Enrique in his trail before squaring for Noel Hunt but the midfielder was denied from close range by an sprawling save from Pepe Reina.

The Royals then bombarded the visitors’ area for a period of 5 minutes but they couldn’t force the ball over the line during a number of goal-mouth scrambles.

Jobi McAnuff had a deflected effort tipped over the bar by Reina as Reading began to turn the screw late on but were given a reminder of Liverpool’s threat as Suarez clipped the outside of the post from a free kick.

Then right at the death McCarthy out did himself yet again with a pair of outstanding back-to-back saves to earn Reading a point.