Brendan Rodgers admitted the injury to Jon Flanagan has been felt by Liverpool this season.

The locally produced talent has missed the entire campaign with a knee injury after emerging as an integral part of the Reds line-up last term as the Merseyside club finished second in the Premier League.

Flanagan has been unable to get on the park this term and Rodgers acknowledges his absence has hurt the team.

"He has been a huge miss for us this season," he told Liverpoolfc.com.

"Jon is a young player and it was probably difficult for him when I first came in, he didn't have a lot of opportunities and there weren't many opportunities to go on loan.

"But he's a wonderful example for all young players about perseverance. He kept working tirelessly in training to the point where I then felt he was ready to be put in.

"People talk about the goalscorers this year and absolutely the goalscorers that we miss, but we definitely missed Jon Flanagan in equal proportion. Because of his aggression, he's very tenacious and he's a very good footballer."