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Reds defend approach to recovery

London - A member of Liverpool's coaching staff defended the club's approach to player recovery on Tuesday following disagreements between manager Brendan Rodgers and England head coach Roy Hodgson.

Hodgson has queried Rodgers's claim that speedy players such as Liverpool pair Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling require two days to fully recover after matches.

Hodgson claims there is little "medical evidence" to support the strategy, but Liverpool first-team coach Mike Marsh says the club will not alter their approach.

"With England there has been a lot of discussion recently. We don't really change," Marsh told the Liverpool website.

"Our fitness programmes have been well documented. We try to recover the players as best we can to prepare for the games.

"We have a couple of days' recovery after the game and we work with the group that don't start (the previous match) and we build up to the next game, and once one game finishes, we try to recover as soon as possible.

"We try different ways. We do quite a lot of analysis with the players, so we break them up into smaller groups and get players' feedback in different ways."

Sturridge has not played since sustaining a thigh strain on international duty last month, while Sterling started England's 1-0 Euro 2016 qualifying win in Estonia at the weekend on the bench after reportedly complaining of fatigue.

Sturridge could return for Liverpool's trip to Queens Park Rangers on Sunday, which marks the start of a run of seven matches in 21 days for the Anfield club.

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