Kenny Dalglish promised to tell England manager Fabio Capello the full extent of Steven Gerrard's ankle injury in the next 48 hours.

Gerrard was not even on Liverpool's bench on Saturday, sparking fears that he will miss England's glamour match against world champions Spain at Wembley in a fortnight's time.

Having missed seven months with a groin problem, Gerrard had hoped to represent his country for the first time in a year.

But time is running out for the Liverpool captain and Dalglish may be even less keen than Capello to risk a player on the international stage if he is not fully match fit.

However, the Scot promised Capello an honest assessment of his player's fitness and suitability for international involvement.

'We will not mislead anybody and we will know more about Steven on Monday or Tuesday,' said Dalglish. 'He was in our minds for the game today but he got a kick in training on Friday and the ankle now has an infection. It is like having an abscess in your mouth, isn't it? The ankle just flared up.'

Capello will only include Gerrard if he proves his match fitness before the squad for Spain is selected next weekend.

And it seems unlikely that Gerrard will win a starting place in the England line-up now, even if Capello does decide to gamble on his inclusion for the friendly on November 12 or the game against Sweden on the following Tuesday. Gerrard would dearly love to add to his 89 international caps.

But his prospects of starring for his country in the near future are now very much in the balance.