While the England squad really isn’t of much concern to most Kopites, news that Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge is potentially set to miss out on the Three Lion’s next two matches with a hip injury won’t elicit much joy on Merseyside.
The 26-year old, who only recently returned from a long term lay-off with a series of muscle injuries ruling him out of action since the end of August, was on target to bag the Reds a consolation goal in yesterday’s loss to Manchester United at Anfield. Although he completed the whole 90-minutes as Brendan Rodgers side lost ground in the race for Champions League football, there’s going to be some tense times at Melwood as the extent of the damage is assessed.
The striker will be checked over thoroughly by the Anfield medical staff before a decision on whether or not to release him for international duty is made. There were fears that over working Sturridge could lead to a breakdown, and though it’s far too soon to even try to draw some sort of conclusion from this news, any suggestion that the 25-year old has picked up a knock is sure to be met with groans from the Liverpool faithful.
Should he be set for another spell on the sidelines, he’ll be in good company. Adam Lallana, who saw a groin injury flare up during a ineffective first half, has already withdrawn from the England squad after coming off at the break. His replacement, long serving captain Steven Gerrard, will be sitting out the Reds next three matches after picking up a straight red card less than a minute after the restart and veteran defender Martin Skrtel could join him after the FA took retrospective action and charged him with violent conduct for a coming together with United ‘keeper David de Gea in the dying seconds of the match.
So, yeah, good times.
