Rafael Benitez has spoken of the immenent return of center-back Danial Agger, who has been sorely missed due to another long-term injury.

“Daniel is very close but I can’t say which game it will be, with Xabi Alonso, he was ready for playing against Arsenal but then we needed to start again.

“So with Agger we want to go slowly and be sure that he’ll be okay. He changed the boots the last time, and I was talking with the doctor and they told me he’s okay.” stated the Spaniard.

“He’s kicking the ball much better than before because he had some problems. With training it was okay, but with boots he had some problems.

“It depends on where you put your weight in the foot so the sole of the boots needs to change. It depends if he is comfortable.

“Now with the new boots he’s been using the ball and maybe in the next days we should see a very good situation with him.” he added.