Liverpool 1 Suárez 88 Hearts 1 Templeton 84

Andy Hunter at Anfield

Liverpool will attempt to cover Andy Carroll's departure to West Ham United with an offer to sign Daniel Sturridge on loan from Chelsea on transfer deadline day. Carroll left Anfield after Liverpool dropped demands for a guaranteed £17m transfer to Upton Park in order to remove the England international from their wage bill.

Brendan Rodgers, whose side qualified for the Europa League group stage with a 2-1 aggregate win over Hearts on Thursday, conceded there was risk in releasing Carroll without a replacement secured but is hopeful of "one or two" before Friday's 11pm deadline. A move for Clint Dempsey is highly unlikely after Liverpool were unable to raise the funds to meet Fulham's £7m asking price and a proposed swap with Jordan Henderson was rejected by the Anfield midfielder.

The Liverpool manager will attempt to land Sturridge on loan instead. Rodgers dismissed the prospect of signing the 22-year-old on Wednesday when Chelsea were holding out for a permanent £15m deal. Their willingness to consider loan offers for Sturridge, however, has revived Rodgers' interest and softened his stance on resisting a temporary exit for Carroll.

"I've been given as much confidence as I can possibly get that we will have someone to come in," the Liverpool manager said. "I've said all along that I have Luis Suárez and Fabio Borini as front-line strikers and the young lads like Adam Morgan are getting experience but between now and January I need more than that. Hopefully tomorrow we can do some work and get something complete because we certainly need it. I am hoping for one or two. We need one, that's for sure."

Liverpool may raise further funds should Charlie Adam accept a £4m move to Stoke City while Jay Spearing is expected to join Bolton Wanderers on a season-long loan. Rodgers has also told Joe Cole his first-team prospects will be severely limited this season but, despite a few inquiries,, one believed to have come from Spartak Moscow, the former Chelsea player is unlikely to depart.

Carroll's exit, merely 19 months after his £35m transfer from Newcastle United, saves Liverpool over £4m with West Ham picking up his £80,000 weekly wage. The 23-year-old was initially against joining West Ham, Fulham or Aston Villa, while Newcastle failed to offer a permanent transfer and Rodgers refused to consider a loan deal with Carroll's former club. But the prospect of being frozen out by Rodgers, and Liverpool's desperation to remove him from the wage bill by accepting a revised deal with West Ham, prompted a late change of heart.

West Ham had initially offered a £2m loan fee with a guaranteed £17m next summer should they avoid relegation. The final deal is a £1m loan fee with an option to buy at the end of the season, not a guarantee. Rodgers said: "It is very simple: the club made a monumental investment in big Andy and at this moment in time he's not playing. He made it very clear from when we first met in the summer that he wants to play games and obviously this is the last chance for him to go and do that. Then obviously we can assess it over the course of the next six months or a season. So that's it."

On the pitch Liverpool overcame a self-inflicted scare against Hearts to book their place in Friday's draw for the Europa League group stage. The Anfield club again laboured against their Scottish opponents but wasted several chances, mostly through Suárez, before calamitous goalkeeping from José Reina in the 84th minute allowed David Templeton's 22-yard shot to squirm over the line. With the tie level on aggregate and extra-time looming, Suárez evaded two Hearts challenges to beat Jamie MacDonald inside his near post and take Liverpool through.

Taken from the Guardian/Observer