Brendan Rodgers today revealed Martin Skrtel is a major doubt for Thursday night's Europa League clash at Anfield against Zenit St Petersburg.

The Slovakian featured in the first leg against his former club at the Petrovsky Stadium a week ago as the Reds slipped to a 2-0 loss.

However, the centre-back is unlikely to play his part when the sides lock horns once again on Merseyside tomorrow.

"He is being assessed but I think he'll struggle," Rodgers told reporters gathered in the trophy room at Anfield.

"He got a little knock on his knee a few days ago and tried to train on it but made it worse.

"So it's highly unlikely that he will play."

The manager also shed light on Fabio Borini's wellbeing after the Italian suffered an injury to his shoulder during the Reds' 5-0 win over Swansea on Sunday.

"By the weekend, he'll look to have an operation and you're then looking at six to eight weeks," said Rodgers.

"It's been a difficult season for him coming into such a big club and getting injured early on. He came back, worked hard but then injured his shoulder.

"He's a tough-minded young boy, so hopefully he'll get through the operation well and we'll see how he is.

"He'll go away, he'll recover and hopefully we'll see the best of him in the future."

Asked about whether Oussama Assaidi could feature for the Reds in the coming weeks, the manager replied: "He's just had a bout of sickness as well as being away at the Africa Cup of Nations.

"But he's been back in training with the group and he'll be back in the squad for tomorrow. He's working hard to impress and to try and make the team."