Hull poser for Liverpool

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is unsure if Daniel Sturridge will be able to play again this season.

Speaking ahead of the Reds' trip to Hull City on Tuesday evening, Rodgers confirmed that Sturridge, who has suffered an injury-hit season and has missed the last three matches with a hip problem, would again be absent at the KC Stadium.

Rodgers added that the forward might not pull on a Liverpool shirt for a competitive match until the 2015/16 campaign.

"It has been difficult for Daniel,” Rodgers said. “Daniel is a good lad who obviously wants to play and be working and helping the team.

"But it has just been one of those seasons where he has been very unfortunate and he has missed out. We are going to have to monitor that day by day and see where he is at.

"When he has been fit he has been brilliant for the team. It is just the key now to see if we can get him back fit and consistently playing. We will see if that is going to be this season or the pre-season."

A point in a goalless draw with West Bromwich Albion at the weekend combined with Manchester United’s defeat by Everton has kept alive Liverpool’s hopes of a top-four finish. A win at the KC Stadium would lift Liverpool to within four points of United in fourth with four matches to play.

After last season’s dramatic finale for Liverpool, when their title challenge faded late on, Rodgers' hopes for a final twist in the season in his side’s favour this time but knows his side must first get past a Hull team buoyed by victory away to Crystal Palace on Saturday.

It was Hull’s first Barclays Premier League victory since February as Dame N'Doye's double secured a 2-0 win at Selhurst Park, a result that moved them a point clear of the relegation zone.

"It will be a tough game away at Hull, they had a good result at the weekend,” Rodgers said. "But for us the idea is to go in and see if we can get the victory and keep putting as much pressure as we possibly can on the teams above.

"We can only focus on ourselves but we saw last year lots of changes can take place in the last five games or so. We just have to be prepared to give everything to finish as high as we can."

For Hull, Tuesday's encounter represents their match in hand on many of the teams around them at the bottom, and Bruce has issued a rallying cry ahead of a tough run-in that also includes fixtures against Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.

"We have got four out of five at home against big teams," he said following the win at Selhurst Park. “We know we need to get a result against one of them and the Burnley game looks huge.

"We're at home, we have got to try and produce a result I know we're capable of."

David Meyler is available to Bruce after the midfielder served the final game of his ban at Palace, but Curtis Davies (thigh), Nikica Jelavic and Robert Snodgrass (knee) are out. Bruce hopes Andrew Robertson (ankle) and Mohamed Diame (knee) will be able to return to his squad.

As well as Sturridge, Lucas Leiva (thigh) and Mamadou Sakho (hamstring) are also likely to be sidelined, while Alberto Moreno (knock) will be assessed before kick-off.