Hodgson Keeping Check On Toivonen, Afellay

PSV Eindhoven pair Ibrahim Afellay and Ola Toivonen are on Liverpool's shopping list. Reds boss Roy Hodgson made a personal check on the duo in action against Twente Enschede at the weekend as he closes in on his January transfer targets, says the Mirror. The Kop chief jetted to the game and back in time to take charge of the Bolton match, with sidekick Kenny Dalglish also watching PSV in the last fortnight. PSV's highly-rated skipper Afellay is on the fringe of the Holland national side and giant Swede Toivonen has been on the Anfield radar before.

Cole In Shock Return vs Chelsea

Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson hasn't ruled Joe Cole out of the clash with Chelsea despite the club confirming he has a hamstring injury. Cole had to be substituted during the 1-0 win over Bolton on Sunday and, following a scan, the club seemed to confirm he would miss the chance to face former club Chelsea at Anfield on Sunday. Dr Peter Brukner, Liverpool's head of sports medicine and sports science, said: "The scan confirmed Joe has sustained a hamstring strain. It is not a serious injury but still means he is likely to be out for two weeks." But Hodgson later said the 28- year-old's injury is not serious and he could yet line up against the champions. He told the club's website: "With Cole it's not as bad as feared. It shouldn't keep him out for that long. "I would say it's a week to 10- day injury. The scan was positive in that it's a very minor tear he has, but you can't really put a definite date on how long that tear is going to take to repair. But the physical people are very optimistic. "It's a question of how quickly he can recover and what progress he can make. At the moment he's not even ruled out for the Chelsea game but we'll see how he goes later in the week.'' Cole has struggled to produce his best form since joining Liverpool on a free transfer in the summer, but Hodgson is confident he will improve. "There have been flashes of quality - notably the ball he produced for Torres in the win over Blackburn," Hodgson said. "I think Joe has done well in that he is so committed, he works his socks off and he wants to do well here. He is a quality player, but we haven't seen the best of him. Absolutely not. There is more to come from him and he knows that." Cole will definitely miss Liverpool's Europa League clash with Napoli on Thursday but full- back Glen Johnson could feature against the Italians at Anfield after four games out with a thigh injury. Johnson trained with the team but in-form fellow defender Sotirios Krygiakos was withdrawn as a precaution. Hodgson said: "Kyrgiakos is feeling his groin slightly. As a matter of caution we took him out of today's training session half way through to give him a bit of a rest.'' Forward Dirk Kuyt continues to make good progress in his recovery from an ankle injury and could come into contention to face Chelsea. The Dutchman was injured on international duty last month but the problem has not proved as bad as first thought. "For the weekend he's a possibility if all goes well with the training sessions on Friday and Saturday,'' Hodgson said. The news is not so positive for Daniel Agger, who looks set to remain on the sidelines for some time. The Dane has been out since September 25. Hodgson said: "It's a question of time and there's not so much more the physios and medical staff can do. We have to be patient.''

Henry Not Ready To Give Any Guarantee

New Liverpool owner John Henry has promised not to load any of his 'acquisition costs' on the club, but has not given any formal guarantees. Henry's NESV group purchased Liverpool in September, taking over from Tom Hicks and George Gillett, who came in for heavy criticism from some Reds supporters for their running of the club. Henry has given Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton verbal assurances, but it was decided that 'such a commitment would not be strictly legally enforceable', and was therefore not given in writing. However, Henry has stated that the majority of the debt from the previous regime had been paid off. The only money the club now owes is £37million to RBS for the cost of development work for their proposed new stadium. "The simplest thing to say is that we removed all debt but the stadium debt," Henry said in an email to the Guardian. "LFC is not servicing debt other than stadium debt." Henry did also promise not to use club finances for interest payments on any debt they may have. He refused to disclose how his takeover was funded, adding: "I have certain obligations to my partners regarding confidentiality of a private company and in not disclosing our financials publicly. "LFC discloses its financials annually, so monies going in and going out are disclosed. But I'm not going to disclose NESV financials or financing information."

Stoke Planning Bid For Lucas

Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva is a target for Stoke City. The Sun says Stoke are ready to bid £4million for Liverpool's Brazil midfield man Lucas in January. Lucas' position at Liverpool has been under threat since the arrival of new manager Roy Hodgson.