Roy Hodgson admits Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard will have to be managed carefully during what is set to be a hectic January of fixtures.

Liverpool could be asked to play nine times throughout the month depending on the outcome of our FA Cup third round tie with Manchester United this weekend.

Gerrard found himself rested on the bench at the start of our New Year's Day clash with Bolton - and Hodgson claims it may have to happen again.

"I think we will have to hope that the fans and supporters understand that," said the 63-year-old. "Fernando had a very serious knee injury, which seems to be in the past, but when you've had an injury there's always the little risk of reoccurrence.

"And Steven, of course, is susceptible to muscle injury if he plays too many games one after the other.

"So, I've got to hope that the ones who just seem to keep going - the Duracell bunnies; the Kuyts, the Lucas Leivas of this world - can keep us going and give me a chance of giving a rest to the others."

The fixture pile up follows the postponement of games against Fulham and Blackpool over the festive period due to ice and snow.

Hodgson admits it is a frustration.

"It's disappointing but it's not just like that for us - it's the same for all the teams in the league," he said. "We've got a couple of matches in hand to play, which doesn't help I suppose, but I think you'll find a lot of teams have a lot of matches coming up.

"Our good fortune is that the squad going into these matches is relatively whole.

"We don't have that many injuries, touch wood, so going into it our squad seems quite big and we probably have a little bit more chances of changing things around than some other teams.

"But if we are going to win games it is the Torreses, the Gerrards, the Reinas - these are the people really that are going to be the ones to get us up the table and lift us above the rest."

Click on the image for a closer look at Gerrard v Bolton