John Terry is right, Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho should be considered for Player of the Year

Chelsea captain John Terry will vote for Philippe Coutinho, right, as his Player of the Year. Jan Kruger / Getty

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers believes that Philippe Coutinho’s “outstanding” recent performances mean he is rightly being considered as a candidate for the Premier League’s end-of-season prizes.

Chelsea captain John Terry revealed on social media last week that he is voting for the Brazilian playmaker as his Player of the Season in the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) awards.

Coutinho, 22, is enjoying his best season since joining Liverpool from Inter Milan in 2012 and scored the winning goal against Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday to earn his side a place in the FA Cup semi-finals.

“He’s a young player that’s come into country and adapted incredibly well to the style of football in the Premier League,” Rodgers said.

“He’s very strong in his mind, he’s got an incredible technique, he’s up there with world’s best in terms of his technique. And still his best years are way ahead of him.

“He’s such a humble boy. He wants to train and loves his football every day. John (Terry) is probably looking at his performance level, which since he’s been here has been outstanding and is only going to get better.

“That’s the pleasing thing for everyone.”

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After keeping their eyes on the prize in the FA Cup, Liverpool resume their fading pursuit of a place in the Premier League’s top four on Monday when they welcome Newcastle United to Anfield.

They will be without striker Mario Balotelli, midfielder Adam Lallana and centre-back Mamadou Sakho, who has been ruled out for up to four weeks with a hamstring injury.

But midfielder-turned-defender Emre Can has completed his suspension and winger Jordon Ibe will return to the squad after six weeks out with a knee injury.

Rodgers is relishing the prospect of seeing Ibe, 19-year-old back, in action.

“Young Jordon Ibe will come back in and I’ve got to say he’s looked absolutely sensational in training,” Rodgers said.

“He’s been out for a while, but he’s been a couple of weeks now out on the field doing his preparation work and he’s joined in the training. He’s looked absolutely outstanding.

“He’s got real natural fitness and he’ll come into the squad for Monday night.”

History is against Newcastle as they bid to halt their slide towards relegation trouble, with 21 years having elapsed since their last league win at Anfield.

Manager John Carver has claimed only two victories in 13 attempts since being placed in charge following Alan Pardew’s departure to Crystal Palace. Newcastle went into the weekend nine points above the drop zone.

“We have to look over our shoulders,” Carver said. “Everyone knows the benchmark for safety in the Premier League is 40 points and we’ve got 35, so we’re by no means mathematically safe.”

Fabricio Coloccini, the goalkeeper and captain, serves the last of a three-match suspension, while 11-goal top scorer Papiss Cisse sits out the fourth of a seven-game ban for spitting at Manchester United defender Jonny Evans.

Daryl Janmaat is expected to recover from a calf problem that hampered the Dutch right-back during the 1-0 defeat by north-east derby rivals Sunderland last weekend.

Rolando Aarons (hamstring) and Siem de Jong (lung), meanwhile, are not yet under consideration for a place in the squad despite having returned to full training.

“We were all hurt by losing to Sunderland, but we can help to put that right by coming away from Anfield with a positive result,” Carver said.

“After so long without a win at Liverpool, I hope we can rewrite history on Monday.”

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