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There were a number of high profile absentees as the Liverpool FC squad trained at Melwood before flying to Istanbul for Thursday night’s Europa League clash with Besiktas.

Steven Gerrard is certain to miss out on the Reds’ return to the Ataturk Stadium as he continues his rehabilitation following a hamstring injury. Lucas Leiva, Jose Enrique and Jon Flanagan all remained sidelined.

Mamadou Sakho (hip), Jordan Henderson (ankle) and Glen Johnson (illness) also missed training and along with Philippe Coutinho, who is rested after making 19 starts in a row, will not travel to Turkey.

WATCH: James Pearce looks ahead to Liverpool's trip to Istanbul

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Sakho has yet to recover from the hip problem which ruled him out of last weekend’s impressive league win at Southampton.

Martin Skrtel is likely to captain the Reds as they look to book their passage to the last 16 having won last week’s first leg at Anfield 1-0.

Brendan Rodgers’ upbeat squad was bolstered by the inclusion of a number of Academy youngsters with Jordan Lussey, Connor Randall, Jordan Williams, Lloyd Jones and Brad Smith all training with the senior squad at Melwood today.

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