Gerrard out of Liverpool Asian tour

Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard was ruled out of the club's pre-season tour to Asia on Tuesday after opting to focus on his recovery from a groin operation. The 31-year-old England midfielder had been due to fly out to China with his team-mates on Sunday but will now remain at Melwood to continue his rehabilitation. "I'd really been looking forward to travelling out to China, Malaysia and Singapore and meeting first-hand as many of our fans as possible," Gerrard told liverpoolfc.tv. "I'm really sorry that I won't now be able to do that. "But after sitting down and talking with the medical experts and technical staff, it's been decided that the best course of action is for me to continue my rehabilitation programme at Melwood. "It's disappointing I won't be with them, but I'm sure the lads who go out there will put a great show on for our fans." Gerrard missed the tail-end of Liverpool's last league campaign after an operation in early March to fix a groin problem. Gerrard returned to training at Liverpool's Melwood complex on Monday but has kept apart from the rest of the first team. "Steven and the medical team have done fantastically well so far and they are in the final stages of getting him back to full training," said manager Kenny Dalglish. "I'm sure there will be supporters disappointed that Steven is unable to be with us in Asia, but I'm sure the same people will appreciate the importance of Steven giving himself the best possible opportunity of being fit to play against Sunderland on the opening day of the new campaign. "Steven continuing his rehabilitation programme at Melwood is in everybody's long term interests."