Jurgen Klopp has confirmed the injury news that every Liverpool fan will have been dreading ahead of Saturday’s Merseyside derby.
Andy Robertson was forced out of Scotland’s 2-0 defeat to Spain in Euro 2024 qualifying last week with a dislocated shoulder, and his club boss has now declared that the 29-year-old will go for surgery on the matter.
Speaking in Friday afternoon’s press conference prior to the Everton game (via Liverpool Echo), the Reds manager said: “I think the decision will go towards surgery. There’s a little chance we can try without but all experts say surgery will be the best for the long term and that means he’s out for a while. We don’t know exactly how long.”
Although Klopp didn’t put a specific timeframe on Robertson’s convalescence, we can take it that the Scotland captain won’t be involved in a Liverpool match for quite some time.
It has been claimed that surgery on a dislocated shoulder could result in three to four months out of action, which means we’re optimistically looking at February for the 29-year-old to return.
That means he’ll miss a large chunk of the season, so Reds fans will now be praying that Kostas Tsimikas can step up to fill the void and, crucially, stay free of any injury concerns of his own.
It could also see teenage prospect Luke Chambers fast-tracked into the first team for Europa League or domestic cup games, or possibly Joe Gomez being deployed at left-back, a position that he’s occasionally played for Liverpool.
Robertson’s need for surgery is unquestionably a massive blow for us, but as Klopp mentioned, it’s likely to be the best course of action in the long-term. We hope he makes as quick a recovery as possible; now it’s time to trust in other players to come to the fore in the team’s time of need.
#Ep94 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones🎙️
As long as we have corrupt VAR referees , injuries mean little.