Liverpool Captain Steven Gerrard Set to Undergo Scan on Knee Injury

Liverpool captain and English International Steven Gerrard is set to undergo knee scans after picking up an injury during Liverpool's 1-1 draw away to Chelsea. The injury cloud will most likely rule Gerrard out of England's friendly with Sweden midweek, but no decision has yet been made.

Gerrard suffered the injury late into the second half of the clash against Chelsea, and the fact he was able to see out the match proves promising. In an article published on Goal.com, Liverpool coach Brendan Rogers commented on the injury:

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"I think Steven will be alright. He has just opened up his medial ligament a bit. He has got some ice on his knee and we'll find out the full extent later on."

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The 32-year-old adds to the growing list on injured English representatives in Roy Hodgson's squad. Wayne Rooney, Aaron Lennon, Theo Walcott, Jonjo Shelvey and Kyle Walker have all pulled out of the upcoming friendly leaving much work to be done ahead of Wednesday.

England's growing injury tally has re-kindled debate to whether International Friendlies are necessary at this point in the season. For players like Theo Walcott and Wayne Rooney (injured), the Internationals come along with the English Premier League, Domestic Cups and the Champions League. Such Internationals provide little more than a means for managers to tweak formations ahead of qualification fixtures and International Cups.

It is expected that England will field a vastly in-experienced line-up away to Sweden—whom rallied from four goals down to secure a point against Germany earlier this year. If Gerrard does feature, the game will mark his 100th cap for England. The scan was described as "precautionary" by the Liverpool website.

Do you think International Friendlies are necessary?