Steven Gerrard: My body gave up and I needed injections

BODY OF EVIDENCE ... Gerro has had a nightmare run of injuries

STEVEN GERRARD feared his six-month injury hell could have spelled the end of his glory days.

The Liverpool skipper, 31, started his first game since March against Manchester United on Saturday and scored in the 1-1 draw.

It was the perfect comeback after so long on the sidelines following groin surgery and then a subsequent infection which further hindered his fitness.

Yet after adding a full game to three appearances from the bench this season, Gerrard confessed at times he hit rock bottom during his rehab.

And the Kop captain was at such a low, there were dark days when he feared he may never return as the same player.

Gerrard admitted: "When I got the injury I knew it was going to be a serious one, something I wasn't used to.

"I had to try to be positive but I will admit that I was down.

"There were times when I was as low as I've ever been as a footballer.

"I think it's only natural that you have doubts and different things do cross your mind from time to time."

The England midfielder has been the talisman for just about all Liverpool have achieved in recent years.

And he revealed his groin had plagued him for the past couple of seasons before he finally opted to go under the knife in March.

The injury had become such a problem that in the weeks before he called time on last season, he went into games on the back of little training.

He added: "Before the operation, I'd been getting niggles and having injections to play.

"Basically, I knew that I wasn't right.

"I was fighting to get fit, just to get out on the pitch.

"I was trying to put my body on the line but it wasn't the real me, I wasn't the player I want to be.

"I was missing training sessions and coming in the day before a game trying to get that last session in or having injections to play the next day.

"You can only do that for a certain amount of time before your body gives in — and mine gave in.

"My groin packed in on me and when it happened I was down and I was low."

Recovering from the psychological blow of sitting on the sidelines was not easy for the one-club local boy.

Gerrard said: "I had to try to be as positive as I could be but it took time before I got back into a positive frame of mind.

"It probably wasn't until a couple of weeks after the operation — when I got off the crutches — that I started being really positive again. I could see I was progressing day by day and, when that happens, your positivity creeps back in.

"Without a doubt the last six months have been the hardest of my career."

Gerrard has also reacted to comments in Spanish keeper Pepe Reina's newly-published autobiography over his marked silence during the previous Anfield ownership.

The Spanish stopper, 29, revealed how he wanted the skipper and fellow local Liverpool boy Jamie Carragher to speak out against the loathed American duo Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

Both Liverpool stars have grown frustrated at hints they could have been more vocal in the campaign to remove Hicks and Gillett from the club.

That finally happened when the Anfield outfit were eventually bought by fellow Yank John W Henry's Fenway Sports Group last October.

Now Gerrard has revealed why he maintained his silence — it was on the instruction of former manager Rafa Benitez.

He said: "The only reason I didn't speak out was because Rafa didn't want me to.

"I asked him if I should say something but he told me to leave it to him. When a situation like that happens, I don't think it is the players' responsibility to step in.

"If me and Jamie had a go at them, I didn't think the owners were going to say, 'OK then, we'll sell the club for £100million cheaper.'"

On the playing front, Reina has hailed Gerrard's return. He said: "Stevie is the badge of this club, the soul of this team.

"Just the fact he is on the pitch is an inspiration for us."