Pep Lijnders has shared a hopeful update on two Liverpool players currently working their way back towards returning from injury.
Andy Robertson has been sidelined since October following surgery on a shoulder problem, and fellow left-back Kostas Tsimikas suffered a broken collarbone just before Christmas, forcing Joe Gomez to deputise in that position in recent games.
Jurgen Klopp’s assistant spoke to the media this afternoon ahead of the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Fulham on Wednesday night, and he outlined the projected next steps for the injured duo.
Lijnders said (via Liverpool Echo): “We have Robbo, he’s almost at the three-month mark, so he will get checked by the surgeon.
“If he does that scan and we see everything [so] that we can really progress him, he will go to Dubai for a week to do proper volume sessions, proper sessions, so that will be good for him. Then we see the three-month mark scan and then we can see how quick he can go into contact again.
“Same for Kostas. Kostas is progressing really well, really quick, so hopefully both of them – Robbo and Kostas – will be back at the end of this month to train with the team.”
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If Robertson and Tsimikas are both back in team training by the end of this month, as per the target outlined by Lijnders, it offers hope that we could see them returning to match action in February.
As it stands, Liverpool have five more fixtures to fulfil in January, including both Carabao Cup ties against Fulham and a Premier League clash at home to Chelsea.
Gomez will surely start each of those (assuming he remains free from injury), but with Trent Alexander-Arnold also sidelined due to a tear in the lateral ligament of his knee, Klopp will be forced to throw a youngster such as Conor Bradley in at the deep end over the coming weeks.
The Northern Ireland international seems very capable of making the step up, but it’s still worrying to have so many senior full-backs all ruled out at the same time, and it seems inevitable that transfer links to players in that position will surface between now and the end of the month.
Fingers crossed that everything will progress as hoped regarding Robertson and Tsimikas, and that the Liverpool vice-captain will also be back in action soon. Until then, the onus is on others to come good when the Reds need them most.
#Ep98 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones🎙️