Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers: Daniel Sturridge and Mamadou Sakho face fitness tests

Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge and defender Mamadou Sakho will both face fitness tests ahead of the visit of West Ham United in the Premier League.

Sturridge has not played since August due to two separate thigh injuries, while a back problem saw Sakho substituted 56 minutes into the League Cup semi-final second leg defeat to Chelsea.

Both players will be assessed ahead of the visit of the Hammers to Anfield on Saturday 31 January and Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is hopeful the pair will be available.

"He [Sturridge] hasn't played and the team struggled for a few months, but thankfully we've now nailed down a way of working and returned to our football ideals," he said.

"The team is becoming better and better, and when you throw Daniel into that, he shines a different light and adds another dimension. He's looked very, very good in training today, he was outstanding.

"But we'll give him another day and I'll have another chat with him tomorrow just to see where he's at, but he looks in top-class condition."

He added: "As you can imagine, when you're out for a long time, then you're just feeling your way back into things.

"In the last few days, and in particular this morning, he was brilliant. He's been really dynamic, fast, strong in the finish and sharp. But we have to be careful with him as well.

"He's been sidelined for a long while and we can't put all the pressure on him and say he's going to be the saving grace when he's on the pitch again. We'll definitely be a better team with Dan than without.

"Sakho we'll assess tomorrow. He's still recovering."

The fixture marks Andy Carroll's first return to Merseyside since leaving for West Ham on a permanent basis in the summer of 2013, while Stewart Downing plays against Liverpool for just the second time since his ill-fated spell at the club.

Rodgers said: "I just felt, with how I play and how the team operates, he [Carroll] might not have been a regular player. [Downing] wasn't someone I wanted to move on. Really gifted player, has wonderful technique."

Liverpool have been conspicuous by their absence in the January transfer window, with the Reds having not made a single signing in order to bolster their Champions League push, but Rodgers does admit that in an ideal world he would have added to his squad.

"If we get a positive result on Saturday, that'll put us in a great position," he said. "Every manager will always want more signings... I would want to be able to do one or two things.

"But I always said the likelihood was we wouldn't sign anyone in January and it looks like that is going to be the case."