Mario Balotelli to be assessed after suffering gashed foot against Hull

Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli has suffered a gashed foot and will be assessed over the next few days, manager Brendan Rodgers has confirmed.

The Italy striker cut a frustrated figure yet again during the Reds 1-0 defeat at Hull City, which left them seven points short of the top-four with four games. left.

Balotelli, who was at fault for Michael Dawson’s headed goal, was eventually substituted in the 65th minute and had an ice pack on his foot as he watched the rest of the game from the bench.

“He’s got a bad gash to his foot. We’ll see how that is over next couple of days,” Rodgers told Sky Sports.

“I’m disappointed with their goal.  We had enough men in the box to deal with it and it didn’t come out the right way. Michael Dawson was onside and had a free header.

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“Apart from that they didn’t have too many chances. I thought we had enough of the ball but never really looked like scoring. We had a couple of near-chances – some good moments of build-up – but we never really threatened.”

Liverpool’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League have all but mathematically dissipated, with their final four games of the season coming against QPR, Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Stoke.

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And Rodgers said: “The opportunity to get into the Champions League was always going to be difficult.

“We lost key players and introduced a lot of new players. We have to work with what we’ve got. They’re a good honest bunch, who work hard every day, and they’ve got to get over the disappointment now.

“We’ve got to focus on the next game. We need to finish this season strongly and regroup again before the end of pre-season.”