Norway full-back John Arne Riise has stressed that a big squad at Liverpool will cope with the injury-enforced absence of skipper Steven Gerrard and vice-captain Jamie Carragher, both of whom will miss tonight’s Champions League third qualifying round second leg against Toulouse at Anfield.

The Reds are yet to set timeline on the return of midfielder Gerrard (toe fracture) and centre-back Carragher (broken rib) although boss Rafa Benitez mentioned that they will keep the former fit and see whether he can be available for Derby County game at the weekend, while the latter is out for a couple of weeks.

Riise said: "We know they’re two very important players for us. I don't know how long we'll be without them, but obviously we'll miss them if they're not available.

"But this is exactly why we have a big squad and we all know we need to cope with these kinds of setbacks.

"Sometimes your best players aren't available and others have to do a good job. If that's the case now, it's about all of us responding the best possible way.

"We proved against Sunderland we can do it. It's a battle when you go to places like that, especially without Stevie and Carra for the last 20 minutes, but we came through it.

"In these circumstances, it's better to focus on who is playing and not to think about who isn't.

"There's nothing we can do about it if a player is injured. It's a big blow, we know that, but that's football."