The England man, who was ruled out “indefinitely” as the club handed him time to recover from a number of different ailments, has reportedly trained all week without issue and could be in line for a starting role when the Welsh club visit Anfield on Sunday. Rodgers won’t be the only one celebrating Johnson’s return though with Three Lions boss Roy Hodgson obviously concerned by the defenders absence from the Reds side. Should the 29-year old pull through this weekend’s match without a hitch, he’s expected to be named in the England bosses squad that will face Denmark in a friendly on March 5th.
Hodgson will be looking to fine tune his squad ahead of the World Cup in Brazil — and though Johnson won’t be the only Liverpool player he’ll be looking at taking to South America — the fullback has been an integral part of the England setup and any setbacks between now and June could cause major headaches for the national team.
Liverpool boss Rodgers welcomed back another defensive absentee in Daniel Agger to the starting eleven in the Reds FA Cup exit to Arsenal last weekend and will be buoyed by Johnson’s progress. Jon Flanagan, who has deputized quite well with the more experienced fullback on the treatment table, could very well be shifted back out out to the left flank in place of the improving, but still fragile, Aly Cissokho after impressing there earlier in the campaign. Hopefully, this will be the end of Rodgers injury worries with Mamadou Sakho, Jose Enrique, Lucas and long-term absentee Sebastian Coates still to return.
The Northern Irishman will be looking to have all hands on deck during the crucial run- in to May…
