Lucas ready to fight as Stoke lie in wait

Lucas today insisted he is ready to fight for his Liverpool future - as Stoke prepared an audacious deadline day move for the midfielder.

The Brazilian international's position in Roy Hodgson's squad has been plunged into doubt following the summer arrivals of Christian Poulsen and Raul Meireles.

Hodgson could not give any cast iron guarantees when he was quizzed about Lucas' future after Sunday's 1-0 win over West Bromwich Albion but, at the same time, it would need a big offer from Stoke to convince the manager to sell.

For his part, Lucas - last season's Young Player of the Year - has made it clear he is not seeking a move and has refused to be disheartened by the fact he faces a battle to nail down a regular starting role.

"What is the situation? I don't know. I'm still playing," said Lucas. "At the moment, I haven't had any offers. I don't know if the club wants to sell me. I just have to wait.

"I'm going away with the national team (on Thursday) and I can't say any more than that. We don't have any games so we will be training for a week in Barcelona.

"If the club want to sell me, what can I do? I just have to wait and see what will happen. But I want to be playing. I am trying to do my best here.

"If the club have some offers for me, they will let me know. At the moment I have no idea. I need to be playing and I want to be playing but I believe that I am doing well.

"The manager will choose who plays. I have a contract here and if I don't get anything good for me or for the club, then I will stay."

A popular member of the squad and committed with it, Lucas - who was the subject of interest from clubs in Serie A earlier this summer - spoke with Hodgson after his arrival about his future plans.

He caught Hodgson's eye consistently during training in Switzerland and was rewarded when he was given the captain's armband for games against Grasshopper Zurich, Kaiserslautern and FC Rabotnicki.

Now he wants to help Liverpool move forward and believes the victory over West Brom will provide a good platform from which to build after the international break.

"I think we controlled the game quite well," said Lucas. "Pepe didn't have to make any too many difficult saves and at half-time, Roy just said to us 'keeping going the same and the goal will eventually come'.

"Fortunately we were able to get our first victory. It was important to get the win before going away because everyone has that bit more confidence. We just have to make sure that when we come back, we keep doing the same."

It promises to be a busy last few hours at Anfield before the transfer window closes, as Hodgson looks to bring in a new striker and get his squad in order before handing in the list of 25 names to the Premier League he will be working with until January.

This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.