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Kenny Dalglish says Luis Suárez is keen to play against Tottenham Hotspur on Monday night following his eight-match suspension for racially abusing Patrice Evra but the manager is not sure whether to throw him in at the deep end.

The Liverpool manager said of Suárez, who has not played since the 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers on Boxing Day: "He'll want to play, won't he? There is a lot to be taken into consideration – the way the other boys have played without him and the fact he has not played for a month.

"After five or six weeks out, it's not automatic someone will come straight back into the team. It depends on the individual, it depends on our needs; not just who we have available but who we are playing against."

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• Uruguayan will lift Anfield club, says Kevin Bond
• Spurs can get a result, says assistant manager

Kevin Bond believes that Luis Suárez's probable return for Liverpool against Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on Monday night will make it harder for Harry Redknapp's side. Spurs are third and know that beating Liverpool will keep their championship hopes alive.

Suárez has been serving an eight-match ban for racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra earlier in the season and Bond, the assistant manager, said of his likely return to action: "The introduction of Suárez on a night match at Anfield – they're going to be a real tough nut. It will give them a lift – as if they need a lift. You can imagine it, the crowd will be rooting for him hugely. They are flying – so you never know, he might not get in the side.

"He's a good player. He's a fantastic player and has been a fantastic signing for Liverpool. You'd have expected them to really sorely miss him. Maybe a couple of results have gone against them in his absence but they've just had three big wins without him and now they've got him as well."

Spurs beat Liverpool 2-0 in the corresponding fixture last season and Bond said the side can take heart for this: "It was a real big performance up there last year. I'm sure the lads will reflect on that and think if we go about our job we can go to Anfield and get a result. We definitely need to get something there. Last year's win will give us a bit of a lift. Players have favourite grounds, strikers have certain teams they think they always do well against. We focus on that factor to help them."

Regarding Tottenham's title hopes Bond said: "When we were eight points adrift [before midweek games] that wasn't bang in the title race but now it's five and we're nearer. A lot of things will change. Next week it might be two points or you might have a blip and you're back to eight and effectively out of it. It's an ever-changing situation and I see it like that for the rest of the season. We're only a couple of results away from the teams above us, which is terrific."

Manchester City, the leaders, dropped three points when Everton beat them 1-0 last Tuesday and Bond said: "If his opinion was it was a two-horse race, now his opinion is different. It's exactly what I mean. One minute we're 20-1 and the next we're 10-1 on the back of one result.

"I don't see City collapsing. It's a disappointing result but it's never easy playing away to Everton. They had a great result against us [3-2 at the Etihad last month]. Come the back end of the season experience will count for a lot, which means [Manchester] United have the edge on everybody. They've been in tight title races come March and April before. Most of the time they come out on top. They've been there and done it and that's in their favour. United will relish that close finish. We've not been in this situation before and they seem to thrive on it."

Regarding Emmanuel Adebayor, who has scored nine goals but none since 22 December, Bond said: "You haven't got to do anything to keep Ade's spirits up. He's a great guy. He's had a few chances that haven't gone in lately. That's how it is for strikers but we're not dwelling on that. He's a very positive guy. He's been terrific for us. He's chased people down, he's everywhere and anywhere. The fact that he hasn't hit the net recently doesn't mean he hasn't made a big contribution."

• Kenny Dalglish may not start striker against Spurs
• 'It's not automatic [he] will come straight into the team'

Kenny Dalglish says Luis Suárez is keen to play against Tottenham Hotspur on Monday night following his eight-match suspension for racially abusing Patrice Evra but the manager is not sure whether to throw him in at the deep end.

The Liverpool manager said of Suárez, who has not played since the 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers on Boxing Day: "He'll want to play, won't he? There is a lot to be taken into consideration – the way the other boys have played without him and the fact he has not played for a month.

"After five or six weeks out, it's not automatic someone will come straight back into the team. It depends on the individual, it depends on our needs; not just who we have available but who we are playing against."

Suárez has always been good at beginnings; almost exactly a year ago he scored at Anfield 16 minutes into his Liverpool debut. It was his first domestic club game since a seven-match suspension for biting PSV Eindhoven's Otman Bakkal while playing for Ajax two and a half months before.

At the start of this season, Suárez had been given three weeks off after playing the pivotal role in Uruguay's Copa América triumph. He was thrown straight into the opening fixture against Sunderland and scored after a dozen minutes before fading badly in the second half.

Dalglish said he was astonished that Suárez, Andy Carroll and Steven Gerrard have spent only 69 minutes together on the pitch. The combination of two very different strikers, who cost Liverpool £58m, supplied by perhaps the finest English midfielder of his generation should have been irresistible. However, injuries, Suárez's suspension and Carroll's indifferent form have meant the trio have barely featured together.

But all are available for the match on Monday night. Gerrard was rested for the 3-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers but will return at Anfield. Carroll, who had not scored a Premier League goal in three months, found the net at Molineux while there is an argument for reintroducing Suárez in front of his own supporters.

The alternative would be pitching him in at Old Trafford for his first game since his ban. "I had no idea Stevie, Luis and Andy had played so infrequently together but they have been injured at different times," said Dalglish. "We'd better put them together in training to see if they can play together.

"Steven was overworked in the run-up to the Wolves game; we were probably a little unfair on him asking him to play against Manchester City, Manchester United and Bolton. It was best he got a well-deserved break but he should be back.

"Certainly, things are looking better. Andy is looking strong now at the end of games – he was running strongly at the end of the Wolves match."

When Suárez and Carroll were paraded 12 months ago, the talk was that they would form the kind of little and large partnership Anfield had not seen since Kevin Keegan and John Toshack formed the spearhead of Bill Shankly's sides.

In the event, they have made little impact as a pairing and Dalglish said they might have to adapt like Dirk Kuyt, who came to Merseyside from Feyenoord as an out-and-out striker, has done. "If they are asked to play in a position that might not be a number one choice but they are comfortable in, then that is helpful."

They will be facing the only side to have won at Anfield since Dalglish's return, although the Liverpool manager said that game in May featured "the stupidest penalty I have ever seen".

There were no excuses for the 4-0 beating Tottenham handed out at White Hart Lane in September. The dismissals of Charlie Adam and Martin Skrtel may have contributed to the size of the defeat but Harry Redknapp's side had been in command before the red cards came out. Even after Spurs had endured heavy defeats by City and United early in the season, Dalglish predicted Tottenham would be "right up there" come the business end of the campaign and he still considers them championship material.

"If they hadn't had so many players unavailable at the start then the results they got against the two Manchester clubs may have been a little bit more positive," he said. "They deserve to be where they are, if not higher. There are still 15 games to go. They can still do it."