Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has confirmed that star striker Fernando Torres is suffering from a hernia problem, but hopes that the Spaniard will not require surgery.
The 25-year-old has been plagued by injury problems over the past 12 months, failing to complete either of the Reds' last two outings against Manchester United and Fulham as the club attempt to carefully nurse him back to full fitness.
Widespread reports on Tuesday suggested the former Atletico Madrid front-man could be set for a further two months on the sidelines, with several publications claiming the goal-getter required surgery on a hernia.
While others suggested Torres was due to go under the knife to cure a groin problem.
And despite Spanish journalist and Sky Sports pundit Guillem Balague opining that Torres simply needed rest, not surgery, to heal a groin injury, Benitez has now revealed that the striker has a hernia.
"We know Fernando has a [hernia] problem, and we have to manage it," he said ahead of his side's crucial Champions League clash against Lyon.
"The positive thing is that he is improving, and he is in less pain each time he plays and trains.
"Hopefully if we can continue doing well with him, he will not need an operation, that is our idea.
"Now it is a question of how he feels and what will happen if he plays.
"Yesterday he was better still and hopefully tomorrow he will be even better."
Fernando Torres flies to Spain for second opinion on groin problem
Liverpool's concerns over the fitness of Fernando Torres have deepened after the striker flew to visit a specialist in Valencia for a second opinion on the hernia problem that has plagued him throughout Liverpool's desperate run of one win in eight games.
Earlier in the day he had visited a private clinic on Merseyside for a scan on his groin, although that appointment was arranged before his 87-minute appearance against Lyon in the Champions League on Wednesday and has been a post-match routine since he developed the problem on international duty last month.
With Steven Gerrard, who has missed Liverpool's last four matches with a groin injury, also being assessed on a day-by-day basis, the club have delayed a decision on whether to send the pair for operations in the hope that their captain and leading striker can help lift their season at home to Birmingham City on Monday. The international break which follows that game – it is three weeks before Liverpool play again in Europe – affords the club an opportunity to soften the impact should either Torres or Gerrard fail to improve.
"Fernando played with pain, and after the game he still had the same problems that have troubled him for a few weeks," said Benítez of his compatriot's display in Lyon, where Liverpool's failure to win pushed them closer to elimination from the Champions League at the group stage. "He wants to wait, rather than have an operation. He wants to work with the physios to try to solve his problems, but still he has pain. He told me he needed to keep stopping during the game because of the pain. Whether there is the need for him or Steven to have an operation is a decision we will probably not take straight away. We must see how they can improve, and by how much. Then we will decide about any possible operation."
Torres deserve time off to cure his hernia .
Afterall our season is almost over , considering the gap between Chelsea and us , and UCL is almost certainly over for us .