Lucas: My targets for the rest of 13-14
Lucas Leiva has given Brendan Rodgers a major boost by declaring he is fit and ready to return to first-team action as he targets club glory and the World Cup with Brazil.
The 27-year-old last featured in a senior match as a substitute during the Reds' pulsating 2-2 draw with Aston Villa at Anfield on January 18.
A knee ligament injury picked up after a short cameo in that game sidelined Lucas, but he returned to play the full 90 minutes as the U21s won 2-0 at West Ham United on Friday.
Lucas told Liverpoolfc.com: "It was really good for me to get going again and try to improve my fitness.
"I was lucky that I wasn't out for a long time and I'm now looking forward to first-team action. Hopefully I'll be able to help the team again for the next 10 games because we know how important they are.
"I felt really good after the game and I'm looking forward to the next two months."
With the dream of representing his country in the World Cup finals on home turf, Liverpool's No.21 is desperate to make Luiz Felipe Scolari's squad for the tournament.
In order to achieve that goal, Lucas knows he first faces a fight to regain a regular berth in Rodgers' starting XI; however, he insists he has no doubts that he will be back stronger than ever.
He said: "It's a massive two months for me, especially looking towards the World Cup at the end of the season as well, so I can't afford to miss many more games.
"I knew the injury wasn't too bad. I knew something happened but of course I was disappointed I wouldn't be able to make the last international game.
"When you are out of the international team and squad there is always someone else who will have a chance to impress, the competition for places in the Brazil squad is so big, so that's why I'm really confident that if I have a good two months ahead then I will have a chance to play at the World Cup.
"That would be like a dream for me - playing for my country in Brazil. It's going to be massive, but as I said, what I do for Liverpool is what's going to get me in the Brazil squad, so I've just got to concentrate on the next 10 games and hopefully help Liverpool to do good things until the end of the season.
"Injuries aren't good but they can happen and probably 90 per cent of the team have had some injury during the season, so unfortunately for me it didn't come at a good time but I'm back and I'm sure I will be at the same level that I was before."