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Liverpool FC have suffered a major blow with the news that skipper Steven Gerrard will be out for up to six weeks with a hamstring injury.

The midfielder limped off early in the second half of Saturday's 4-1 win over West Ham and a scan has confirmed the extent of the damage.

Boss Brendan Rodgers will have to embark on a crunch run of festive fixtures without his talismanic captain.

Gerrard is expected to be sidelined until mid-January – meaning he could miss as many as eight matches.

During that period Liverpool face vital trips to fellow top-four contenders Tottenham, Manchester City and Chelsea, as well as the start of their FA Cup campaign.

Gerrard's enduring importance to the Reds is underlined by the fact that no Premier League player has made more assists than his half dozen so far this season.

He will be sorely missed and the timing could hardly be worse with such a hectic schedule ahead.

Johnson: We'll step it up - even with Stevie out

Rodgers is already without striker Daniel Sturridge, who is out until late January due to an ankle injury, and left-back Jose Enrique, who is recovering from knee surgery and won't play again until February.

Daniel Agger, who is expected to return from illness for Sunday's trip to Tottenham, will take over the captaincy in Gerrard's absence, while Lucas Leiva is set to earn a recall in midfield.

Rodgers also has fitness concerns over Jordan Henderson, who has been wearing a protective boot following Saturday's game.

The England international was on the receiving end of a reckless challenge by Kevin Nolan, who was dismissed late on at Anfield.

Liverpool believe Henderson has only suffered bruising to his ankle and are hopeful he will recover in time to feature at White Hart Lane

The coming weeks will be a serious test of Liverpool's Champions League credentials but goalkeeper Simon Mignolet insists they are capable of filling the void left by Gerrard's injury.

“Steven is obviously very important for us,” Mignolet told the ECHO.

“He delivers the ball into the box with such quality. It wasn't nice to see him going off the pitch like that.

“But we have a decent enough squad to deal with injuries and cope with these kind of things. I am sure someone else in the dressing room will be ready to step up.

“We have other leaders in the team as well and we must continue playing in the same way.

“Every game we go into hopeful of getting the three points and we will go to Tottenham and be positive.”