Arne Slot said he expects Wataru Endo to be sidelined for “quite a long time” after he was stretchered off in the second-half of Liverpool’s win over Sunderland.
The Reds have injuries piling up, with right-back proving a growing problem area. Endo started there at the stadium of Light amid injuries to usual first-choices Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley.
Two reliable deputies in Joe Gomez and Dominik Szoboszlai were both unavailable, too. The former was not yet match fit having recently returned from an injury lay-off of his own, while the latter was suspended.
Curtis Jones has also taken up the mantle at right-back this season, with Endo becoming the seventh Liverpool player to start there this season at the Stadium of Light.
But he could not complete the match, as he left the pitch on a stretcher following a nasty fall.
He appeared to suffer an ankle injury after going to ground in an awkward fashion with just over 20 minutes left to play. He was replaced by Gomez.
The Japan international appeared to be in agony after hitting the turf, and medics applied an inflatable brace to his left leg before removing him from the pitch.
Offering an update on Endo’s condition at full-time, Slot said: “His injury doesn’t look good. I expect him to be out, unfortunately, for quite a long time again.”
The Liverpool boss went on to praise Endo’s mentality for hobbling on through the defence of a Sunderland corner before being carried off the pitch.
“What a mentality of him, things don’t look good but he stays on the pitch to defend one more set piece,” Slot added.
Endo’s injury is more bad news for Slot, who has been limited by injuries throughout this campaign. Club-record signing Alexander Isak has missed most of the season with various issues, most recently with a broken leg, while another summer signing, centre-back Giovanni Leoni, ruptured his ACL on debut.
