Nottingham Forest defender Harry Toffolo is facing a spell on the sidelines after suffering a hamstring problem on Tuesday night.
The left-back was forced off little more than 15 minutes after being brought on in the 0-0 draw against Brighton and Hove Albion. He joins long-term absentees Omar Richards (hairline fracture of the leg) and Moussa Niakhate (hamstring) in being out of action.
Midfielder Lewis O’Brien is also likely to be missing for Saturday’s clash with Liverpool. The summer signing has not been involved in the last two games due to illness, and has still not fully recovered.
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“Harry is injured. He picked up a hamstring injury, unfortunately, which will rule him out for a little while,” said Reds boss Steve Cooper.
“Lewis still hasn’t recovered from his illness. Harry picked up the hamstring injury the other day, and the longer-term injured are where they are.
“Lewis is still poorly. We are helping as much as we can with his recovery and really trying to get to the bottom of it. He’s taken a bit of a hit with it.”
Toffolo being ruled out is likely to mean Serge Aurier and Neco Williams keep their places at full-back when Jurgen Klopp’s side visit the City Ground, with Renan Lodi having been sidelined with an ankle sprain. Cooper explained after the midweek stalemate that Aurier is not yet ready to complete a full 90 minutes. He is continuing to build up his match fitness and had missed last Saturday's defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers with a muscle problem, meaning he made way for Toffolo after 70 minutes against the Seagulls.
Meanwhile, midfielder Orel Mangala made his first start since coming back from a hamstring injury at the Amex Stadium. He was substituted after an hour, with Cooper explaining he, too, is still not ready to last a whole game.
“Orel and Serge have been out injured and were not ready to complete the 90 minutes,” the Welshman said. “With the amount of changes you can make now, you can half plan for certain changes.
“Some of those in-game changes were forced on us. Others we had planned to do anyway.”
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