After missing the draw with Arsenal and the defeat at the hands of West Ham United, it was hoped that Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson would be back in the starting eleven when the Reds squared off against bitter rivals Manchester United at the weekend, but an ongoing foot problem kept the skipper out of the trip to Old Trafford as the Anfield outfit fell to their second defeat on the hop.
Withdrawn less than 10-minutes after the restart in the narrow win over AFC Bournemouth back in August, Henderson has been working with the medical team and recuperating ever since. “They’re all coming along well,” said Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers prior to the match with Manchester United when asked about the fitness of the skipper. “Jordan Henderson and Adam Lallana we’ll see over the course of the next 24 hours but they’ve been responding really well in their treatment.”
That particular statement now appears to be a point of contention with various reports in the media claiming that Henderson has now flown out to see a specialist in America to get to the root of the problem. Although the skipper was not expected to play any part when the Reds square off against Ligue One side Bordeaux in the Europa League on Thursday, they were hoping that he’d be available for their Premier League meeting with Norwich City on Sunday. That, of course, is now looking increasingly unlikely.
The problem with Henderson’s heel is not a new one with Rodgers confirming that he was given a pain-killing injection prior to the meeting with the Cherries. James Cozzarelli, of the Advanced Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Institute, will reportedly treat Henderson on Tuesday as the club looks to get their captain, who is finding running painful, back on the pitch as soon as possible.
