Liverpool have been dealt a setback with the news defender Fabio Aurelio will spend up to a month on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.
Aurelio sustained the “significant injury” during the 3-1 victory over Manchester United this past weekend, and the Reds’ Head of Sports Medicine and Sports, Dr Peter Brukner, has now confirmed the Brazilian full-back is unlikely to feature again until early next month.
Brukner said: “We've been managing him carefully because he's not been playing twice in a week, but this just came out of the blue.
“He had a minor adductor strain a few weeks before that. We rehabilitated him and he trained all week with no problems at all.
“He'll be out for a month so that's a blow. It's a partial tear. It's what we call a secondary degree hamstring. It's similar to Martin Kelly's and these are three or four week injuries.
“He's obviously very down. It was a sad sight to see him walking off the pitch.
“He's frustrated because he was playing well on Sunday. He was looking forward to getting a run of games but it wasn't to be.”
Aurelio’s absence will be a major headache for manager Kenny Dalglish who is already without Daniel Agger and Martin Kelly due to injury.