Steven Gerrard set to miss four weeks for Liverpool
Gerrard has scored seven goals in 15 appearances for Liverpool this season
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard faces three to four weeks out with the hamstring injury suffered in England's defeat by France on Wednesday.
The 30-year-old midfielder went off after 84 minutes of the friendly and has suffered a grade two tear.
"Steven injured his hamstring," said Reds medical chief Dr Peter Brukner before Gerrard had a scan on Thursday.
"He's been for an early assessment and it certainly looks like a significant hamstring injury."
If Gerrard is sidelined for four weeks he will miss matches against West Ham, Tottenham, Steaua Bucharest, Aston Villa, Newcastle and FC Utrecht.
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The absence of such an influential player is likely to infuriate Liverpool and manager Roy Hodgson as the Reds look to turn around a disappointing start to the season in which they have only won four of their first 13 Premier League games.
Gerrard was only expected to play for an hour of the France match, but played on with England boss Fabio Capello arguing he needed an experienced player on the pitch as Rio Ferdinand and Gareth Barry had been substituted because of injury at half-time.
The Italian said he will speak with Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson to sympathise about Gerrard but he does not intend to apologise.
"I will speak with him [Hodgson]," said Capello. "But to explain what?
"Afterwards he will be either happy or not happy. I know this because Steven is a really important player.
"But injuries can happen. We were trying to win the game, he is really important and we had a lot of injuries in midfield. That is why he stayed on the pitch."
After the game on Wednesday Liverpool fitness coach Darren Burgess criticised Capello and England on social media website Twitter for their extended use of Gerrard, although those posts were deleted.
We fully expect him [Torres] to be fine for the weekend
Liverpool medical chief Dr Peter Brukner
"Unbelievable from all associated with England and English FA with regard to SGs [Steven Gerrard's] injury. Completely ignored agreement and past history," his first tweet read.
"Completely amateurish and now we pay for their incompetence. Absolutely disgraceful."
Gerrard has scored seven goals in 15 appearances for Liverpool this season and two in five appearances for his country.
His absence for Liverpool could leave them short in central midfield for the game against West Ham as Lucas Leiva will be suspended, while Christian Poulsen has struggled to adapt to the Premier League after his summer move from Serie A side Juventus.
Playmaker Joe Cole is also sidelined as he recovers from the hamstring strain picked up at Bolton on 31 October.
However, Reds boss Roy Hodgson did receive some better news on the injury front when it came to strikers Fernando Torres and Dirk Kuyt as well as defenders Martin Skrtel and Glen Johnson.
Torres played the second half of Spain's defeat by Portugal after picking up an ankle injury last Saturday in the loss at Stoke.
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Capello defends Gerrard decision
Netherlands international Kuyt, Slovakia centre-back Skrtel and England right-back Johnson did not go on international duty as they recovered from injury and all four should be fit to face the Hammers.
"We have a good relationship with the Spanish medical staff," revealed Brukner. "They assessed him [Torres] and he had a good day or two of treatment over there and didn't train.
"They felt he was OK to play 45 minutes [against Portugal] and he came through that OK. We fully expect him to be fine for the weekend.
"Dirk is coming back after a pretty severe ankle injury. We were pleased to get him back after only three weeks but he then played three games in a week so he was a little bit sore.
"We discussed it with Dirk and the Dutch team and agreed it would probably not be a good idea for him to play, so he sat out the Netherlands game.
"Martin got a knock against Stoke which wasn't too bad but we thought it wasn't a good idea for him to travel and play an international. But all three of these players will be fine for West Ham on Saturday.
"Glen is also available for selection. He's been training all week at Melwood and he's ready to play."
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