'Daniel Sturridge should be back for Wembley' says Rodgers

Although Sturridge was forced to sit out the Reds’ 2-0 victory against Newcastle with a hip injury, his manager said he should be ready to feature in their first trip to Wembley in three years.

"He will hopefully be okay for the weekend. I will know more in the week,” said Rodgers.

"He feels reasonably fine so we are hoping by the middle of the week we will have an indication where he is at."

However, Rodgers was less forthcoming about the availability of Sturridge’s fellow forward Mario Balotelli.

The Italian was again absent due to illness and has now not been involved for three successive games.

A hip injury forced Daniel Sturridge to watch Liverpool's win against Newcastle from the stands

"Mario is still ill. He was not quite fit enough to face Newcastle. He has had on and off sickness issues,” added Rodgers.

He also confirmed that defender Mamadou Sakho would be out for "three to four weeks" with the hamstring injury sustained in The FA Cup quarter-final replay win at Ewood Park.

Also speaking after the club’s Anfield victory against John Carver’s side was defender Dejan Lovren, who said the win means the club now travel to Wembley full of confidence.

"We had difficult moments in the last few games against the big teams," he told Liverpoolfc.com. 

"It didn't go the way we wanted.

"But now, after the Cup win and this game, the confidence is back. That is the most important thing. We just need to continue to be calm and do our job.

"We need to be calm this week, to prepare ourselves, because we know it will be a tough game against Aston Villa and we want to go to the Final."