One Liverpool player has admitted to playing through the pain barrier earlier this year as he spoke candidly about his ‘hugely frustrating’ injury struggles.
Andy Robertson missed three months of last season due to a shoulder problem and was also sidelined with an ankle knock towards the end of March, since which he’s played on for club and country (he captained Scotland at Euro 2024) despite being ‘in pain’.
The left-back told liverpoolfc.com: “I was playing in pain from March onwards and obviously it was a really important time for the club and then a really important time for my country.
“I hoped that the three weeks off [after the Euros] would have settled things down but it didn’t and I needed a wee bit longer, so I managed to get my fitness up to a really good level in terms of not being with the team, which was hugely frustrating.”
Follow Empire of the Kop on Instagram (@empireofthekop) HERE
However, despite featuring in only one pre-season match, Robertson was selected to start against Ipswich last weekend and played for 79 minutes at Portman Road, which confirmed to him that he’s now over his injury problems.
The 30-year-old stated: “Obviously coming off towards the end, I started to get a little bit tired, which is normal, but I felt good, I feel good. I am pain-free for the first time in five months, which is always positive, so long may it continue.”
READ MORE: Sepp van den Berg’s future may have become clearer after Sky reporter’s evening update
Robertson didn’t have his best performance for Liverpool in the win over Ipswich on Saturday, although that’s understandable in the context of the injury issues that he’s faced this year, the extent of which he’s only just made clear.
He’s now at an age where even minor problems are liable to escalate into something more extensive, so it wouldn’t surprise us if Arne Slot were to manage the 30-year-old’s minutes carefully this season and give Kostas Tsimikas ample opportunities to start.
Now that the Scot is ‘pain-free’, though, we could hopefully see him at his rampaging, combative best before long, with him and Trent Alexander-Arnold set to be as crucial as ever towards constructing attacks for the front three to finish off.
Here’s hoping that Robertson will come through the entire campaign without a recurrence of any injury problems, and the same goes for the rest of the squad, particularly once the games pile up when the Champions League gets underway and Liverpool enter the domestic cups.
EOTK Close-up with John Welsh: ‘a local lad who lived his dream’ and Slot’s LFC predictions
The post Liverpool player makes frank admission about ‘hugely frustrating’ injury struggles appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.
