‘He will start…’ – Andoni Iraola teases prospective return dates for injured Liverpool duo
Andoni Iraola has hinted at potential return dates for two Liverpool players who are currently recovering from injury.
The Reds have begun the new season with a handful of players sidelined, with Hugo Ekitike and Conor Bradley set to miss another few months with serious Achilles and knee injuries respectively.
Giovanni Leoni has also been a long-term absentee after rupturing his ACL nearly a year ago, while Joe Gomez went down with injury in the opening minutes of our first pre-season friendly against Sunderland in July.
Iraola issues Liverpool injury updates
Iraola spoke to the media this morning ahead of Liverpool’s Premier League clash against Ipswich on Friday night, and he was asked for an update on the status of the Reds players who’ve missed the start of the campaign through injury.
The Basque outlined (via Liverpool Echo): “The closest one is Joe. He will start training with us next week. The next one is Giovanni Leoni; he could be training during the break with the group. Conor and especially Hugo [will take] longer.”
Iraola could soon have plenty of choice at the back
With Gomez in line to resume training next week, he could potentially be available for the league game against Fulham on 12 September, or the Carabao Cup tie against Tottenham Hotspur three days later.
Leoni will bring up a full year out injured, but a potential return to team training during the international break at the end of this month offers hope that he might at least be available for selection once the club season resumes in the second week of October.
However, considering how long the Italian teenager has been sidelined, he’ll most likely be bedded in gently in order to regain match fitness. Don’t expect to see him thrown in at the deep end any time soon.
Once both of those are available to Iraola, and so long as there are no further defensive injuries, the Liverpool boss could have as many as five centre-backs from which to choose in a few weeks’ time – a most welcome scenario once three-game weeks become a regularity later in the autumn.
Right now the injury outlook isn’t nightmarish for the Reds – certainly not in comparison to other intervals over the past year – although squad depth will inevitably be tested once the dual commitments of domestic and European football fully take hold.
