Gerrard on way back, says happy Houllier

Steven Gerrard has been given the all-clear to fly to Madrid for Liverpool's weekend games after the results of a scan on his thigh injury.

The England midfielder sat out last night's 1-0 home friendly defeat by Italian Serie A side Lazio, as well as being sidelined for last weekend's Wolfsburg friendly in Switzerland, after which he had a scan.

But manager Gerard Houllier confirmed Gerrard will travel to Spain, where Liverpool play Real Madrid on Friday and Bayern Munich on Sunday, along with striker Emile Heskey, who has also recovered from a hamstring pull.

Houllier said: 'Steven will probably be OK to play in our second game in Madrid, but if not he will certainly be fit for the Charity Shield game with Arsenal the following weekend.'

The big Anfield support last night were thrilled by the sharpness of new boys El Hadji Diouf and Bruno Cheyrou on their home debuts.

Diouf was alert, playing in the dazzlingly-booted Cheyrou for a shot that made Luca Marchegiani go full stretch.