Mario Balotelli 'overcame injury in warm-up' before League Cup heroics

Mario Balotelli ended his Liverpool goal drought to help them reach the League Cup quarter-finals, despite picking up an injury in the warm-up.

The Italian came off the bench to equalise against Swansea City at Anfield before Dejan Lovren netted a stoppage-time winner to send Liverpool through.

However, Reds assistant manager Colin Pascoe has revealed how Balotelli nearly didn't feature at all.

"He twisted his studs in the ground and he was sent to see the physio to see if he was all right or not," Pascoe told reporters.

"He felt something in his knee, but he came on and his knee looked all right."

The goal was just Balotelli's second in 12 appearances since his £12m move to Merseyside from AC Milan.