Liverpool's England captain Steven Gerrard is angry over their growing injury list.

But Gerrard does not blame Belgium player Dries Mertens whose push on Chelsea defender Gary Cahill during Saturday's international at Wembley led to him colliding with Joe Hart and suffering a double fracture of the jaw.

Gerrard said: "Losing Gary is a massive blow.

"His performances in the last six months have been colossal for Chelsea. He was a colossus in the Champions League final win over Bayern Munich. We needed him.

"I am angry because we have lost some big players with a tournament eight or nine days away.

"That's the blow and that's the price you pay for these warm-up games.

"To do well in these tournaments you have to have your big players and to lose Gary is another huge blow on the back of Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry."

But, as regards the challenge by Mertens, Gerrard said: "I don't think you can blame the guy because he was itching to score a goal.

"Maybe he got carried away but I don't think you can put any blame on the kid."