Liverpool's Xabi Alonso has declared he is now fit and raring to go against Chelsea after admitting his previous comeback came too soon.The Spanish midfielder's campaign has been disrupted by a recurring metatarsal injury that has seen him feature in just nine matches for the Reds so far this season.

But he is fit again now and with the news that Steven Gerrard has been ruled out of the Stamford Bridge clash with a stomach upset, he is ready to return to action in the Carling Cup quarter-final on Wednesday.

"I would love to be given some minutes on the pitch tonight because I feel I am now ready," Alonso told the club's website.

"I have been training for two and a half weeks - both with the first team and the reserves when the first team have been away - and everything has gone fine. But the true test comes in games.

"I have been tackling as normal in training and I am totally pain-free, so I don't expect there to be any problems if I am involved."

Alonso was sidelined with an foot fracture against Portsmouth in September and returned to action six weeks later against Arsenal, when he suffered a recurrence of the injury.

"It has been frustrating for me," he said. "No player likes to be injured because you want to be playing and training with your team-mates and it is not nice when you cannot do that.

Looking back, Alonso accepts his return against Arsenal may have come too soon.

"It is easy with hindsight but maybe it would have been better if I had come off just before I got injured again," added Alonso.

"I had been feeling a bit tired around that time because it was only my first game back and the match was very fast. But as a player you don't want to come off, particularly when the team is winning and I stayed on."

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