Football: BRUISE BROTHERS; Reds stars paying a high price as international injuries hit home.

Byline: Chris Bascombe

THE prospect of international week is only slightly more horrifying than winning a year's supply of Luke Chadwick pin-up photographs.

Liverpool again paid the price after the Euro 2004 qualifiers as their stars returned to Melwood battered and bruised and in some cases unfit to play in today's crucial trip to Leeds.

What exactly do these international managers do with the lads? They only have to look after them a week and the Liverpool physio staff have to apply for an extension to the treatment table.

Since the summer we've seen Danny Murphy, Vladimir Smicer, Stephane Henchoz, Jerzy Dudek, Steven Gerrard, Emile Heskey, Sami Hyypia, Chris Kirkland and even, to some extent, Michael Owen all limp back to Merseyside.

No wonder these international breaks are about as welcome as Ulrika Johnson as guest speaker at a convention for happily attached men. ``We are paying heavy service to the national sides,'' Gerard Houllier said today.

``Gerrard, Heskey, Hyypia and Kirkland all got injuries in midweek and Smicer and even Henchoz have injuries they picked up on international duty.

``It is our price to pay for success. They come back injured and we have little time to treat them.''

It's not as though this international jinx is just a recent trend either. Simply whisper the word `England international' within a five mile radius of Jamie Redknapp and he'd pull a hamstring.

John Barnes suffered in the 1990s too, although his wounds were often more psychological for all the stick he took in an England jersey.

Anyone who plays for England risks mental scars. Sometimes Anfield regulars have been guilty of being too fickle, getting too impatient too early. But compared to the crowd on Wednesday, even the Paddock could be described as pillars of patience.

When a misplaced Steven Gerrard pass is greeted with a groan by a few thousand fans, you know you're in the presence of an uneducated rabble when it comes to football.

Injuries aside, age old problems of poorly scheduled games add an additional headache during a hectic period for the Reds at the moment.

Why did Liverpool have to play at noon today? Television dictates, obviously.

But it means the Reds could only have one full training session before they headed to Yorkshire.

Yes, it's the same for Leeds but they don't have as many internationals in their first team at the moment. Their players must have felt fresher than Liverpool's, which will make any Reds' success today more admirable.

After this, Liverpool are jetting out on a five-hour trip to Moscow tomorrow afternoon.

The match against Spartak could prove to be the most tricky in terms of the players' energies.

Michael Owen, for example, will enjoy his second trip to Eastern Europe within a week tomorrow. It can be mentally exhausting doing so much travelling and sitting around a hotel for so long, as he will have done by the time the team returns from Moscow.

Expect all these factors to be taken into account in some of the team selections over the coming weeks.

Thankfully for all concerned in Liverpool's physio room, it's another four months before England play again.Academy

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BATTLE STATIONS: Steven Gerrard forces his way forward against Slovakia last Saturday