In a major blow to Liverpool, midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has pulled up a muscle problem on his comeback from a long-term injury during his 40-minute appearance in an Under-23 match on Friday.
The 25-year-old sustained a fresh injury during his return from a knee injury in Neil Critchley’s side 3-1 win at Derby County. He was forced to leave the field five minutes before the half time as a precautionary measure.
Oxlade-Chamberlain had earlier sustained a knee injury during Liverpool's Champions League semi-final clash against AS Roma last season and was subsequently forced to miss the 2018 World Cup in Russia after undergoing knee surgery.
Reflecting on the midfielder's fresh setback, Liverpool said that Oxlade-Chamberlain would be assessed soon, hoping that the muscle pull is not that major.
“He obviously had a bit of an issue but hopefully it’s nothing major. The bonus for him is that it’s not his knee, so he’s delighted there are no problems with that, "Liverpool said on their official website.
“He was enjoying himself, he was happy to be back playing. Hopefully when he wakes up in the morning, fingers crossed it’s nothing and only a precaution," the club added.
The club further revealed that the idea was only ever to play Oxlade-Chamberlain for only 45 minutes and that he had almost got that.
“The idea was only ever to play him for 45 minutes at most anyway. He nearly got that, as well. Hopefully it’s not as bad as it first looked. He was looking over [to the bench] and we weren’t sure. It’s maybe some kind of muscle problem and maybe one to assess tomorrow," Liverpool concluded.
