Good afternoon! Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is due to talk to the media shortly ahead of the team's visit to Loftus Road this weekend, when the team will be looking for their first back-to-back league wins of the season.

Rodgers will likely provide an update on injuries to the likes of Daniel Sturridge, Emre Can and Glen Johnson, as well as Raheem Sterling, who reportedly asked to skip England's Euro qualifier earlier this week with exhaustion.

PHOTO: Brendan Rodgers oversees #LFC's pre-QPR training at Melwood this morning pic.twitter.com/o23NktkPtm — Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 17, 2014

Liverpool have a busy few days ahead. Following Sunday's match, the Reds will host Real Madrid in the Champions League in midweek before facing Hull City in the league next Saturday.

This weekend's opponents have been on a poor run so far this season. QPR have won just once in the league, and sit at the bottom of the table ahead of this weekend's fixtures.

Don't forget, you'll be able to follow live coverage from this match and every other Premier League fixture this weekend, as well as team news prior to kickoff, post-match reaction and player analysis with Sports Mole.

One of Liverpool's biggest problems this season has been scoring goals. With Daniel Sturridge out injured, only Raheem Sterling and Steven Gerrard have scored more than a single goal this campaign.

Right then, Rodgers is ready to speak to the media...

Following the controversy surrounding Sterling's involvement with the England squad, Rodgers tells reporters: "I want to move on from the Sterling saga for the sake of the kid. Congratulations to England and all the home nations for the results they got and their performances. I've been very fortunate to work with a brilliant young player here. From the pre-season trip as a 17-year-old, he's been incredible for me. He's maturing into a great young man, now 19, he's responsible, honest. Lots of players will play when they don't feel right. It's been grossly unfair how Sterling has been put in the back pages for something he clearly didn't say. He's back here in a secure environment. The last week shook him a wee bit but he was brilliant in training this morning."

However, on the subject of players making international appearances, Rodgers added: "I'm someone who takes great pride in their players playing for their country. I will continue to work with all nations to help the players and improve them, so they can be better players here at Liverpool."

Moving on to the subject of injuries, Rodgers says: "We'll see how Daniel Sturridge is tomorrow. He's training, looking well. Emre Can's back in, Joe Allen's back in."

With three matches in six days, Rodgers admits: "The best players cannot play every single game at the very top. You can break young players and at the age of 26, 27 their careers will be over. Every individual player is different but the number of injuries don't surprise me."

Despite playing Real Madrid in a few days, Rodgers says: "Our most important game is the next game, and that's QPR. I'll have to look at it but if I want to go with the same team against Real Madrid, I think I can. We won't think about Real until after Sunday's match."

When asked about Sturridge again, Rodgers adds: "I've got an incredible medical and sports science team and they've done brilliantly. Daniel has been working tirelessly and will be delighted to be back, when he's ready."

Following criticism of the club's two-day recovery program, Rodgers tells reporters: "My belief and training model is to make players better. Part of that is to look how individuals recovered because our game demands a high physical level. Our second day recovery is a technical session. There are various ways to recover. I see it as very important in all players and I believe it has helped the likes of Steven Gerrard and Glen Johnson play the amount of games they have."

The questions about Sturridge keep coming. This time the manager is asked what the striker brings to the team: "He's an excellent player who creates space for himself and others. When you take him out of the team, you're playing a different style. When he is playing how he has done, he is one of the top European strikers."

Despite Liverpool's mixed results at the start of this season, Rodgers insists that he is not concerned: "I'm quite relaxed on it all and we will look at it after 10 games to see how we're set. At this point in time, we are looking to improve our performance level and we know we will get better. There's no crisis, we lost a world class player and brought a number in. The players here are magnificent and the attitude and effort they show gives me the hope we can push on."

There's been lots of talk about the Ebola crisis affecting the running of the Africa Cup of Nations next year. When asked whether Liverpool would let Kolo Toure attend for Ivory Coast, Rodgers says: "My medical team will look at the welfare of Kolo Toure if he was to go to the African Cup of Nations. We'll address it at the time."

That's all from Rodgers this week, but join us again on Sunday to find out if Liverpool can beat Queens Park Rangers. Until then, thanks for joining me this afternoon. Goodbye.