Kewell months away from return

Sydney:

Liverpool winger Harry Kewell said on Thursday he likely won't play for the English Premier League side until at least February while he recovers from groin and foot operations. Kewell has not played since helping Australia advance to the second round of soccer's World Cup in Germany with an equalising goal against Croatia. "It's going to be a while," Kewell said at his former high school in western Sydney. "We're looking past February. I'm just itching to get back into playing." Kewell has had groin, foot, ankle, Achilles tendon and hip injuries over the past two years. He continues to suffer an arthritic condition in his left foot and last week had what he hopes to be the final operation on his groin. "My foot is a bit sore at the moment and my groin is a bit sore at the moment," Kewell said. "I just had that done on Friday, but the surgeons are very happy. "I meet up with them again on Friday and if they give me the all clear I'm back off to England. It's been a long hard thing for me, seven weeks so far, and I'm really looking forward to going home and seeing my family." Liverpool sits 11th in the Premier League - 11 points behind leaders Manchester United with just three wins in nine games this season. But Kewell said he thinks the Reds will improve soon. "We're just not finishing our chances," said Kewell. "If you look at our past record we've always had a slow start to the season, but we always pick it up and we know where the back of the net is. It only takes one spark from any one of our great players to do that." (AP)